Another Tyler
by carissathestoryteller
Summary: After losing Rose Tyler in Doomsday and being turned down by Donna Noble, the Doctor goes to London to destroy an old enemy- and finds a new friend. She turns out to be so much more than he could've ever expected...
1. Episode One: Faceless Horror Part One

_**My first fanfiction! Yay! Completely brilliant, I know... Anyway, part one of the first episode. Sorry if my episodes are a bit long, once I get started I just can't seem to stop! But hey, don't complain, you'll thank me for it eventually! ;) So, in a nutshell, the 10th Doctor, after Donna and before Martha. Sound interesting? Good, cause you're gonna love it! Well, it's going to be a bit slow at the beginning, but just stick with it, cause I've got all of this episode and most of the next finished. All written down in a Composition Notebook, just waiting for me to type it up. So, have fun with the first, cause there'll be more coming to you as soon as I can get it on my computer!**_

The phone. It was ringing. Groggy, she rolled out of bed and stumbled towards the insistent whine. Grumbling curses under her breath, she groaned and pressed answer.

"I've _found_ you," A teasing female voice, slightly hoarse and laced with a metallic buzz, drifted over the line. Despite the teasing tone, the words were sharp, angry. They left a dull ache in her eardrums. "It took me a while- _oh, yes, _a very long time- but I have finally found you." For the first time, she noticed the stuffy, old-fashioned air of the unknown woman on the other side of the wire.

"I'm sorry?" Her voice came out deeper than usual; gruff from sleep. "Who is this?" Her mind grazed over the possible pranksters, but none seemed to fit.

"Oh, silly girl, you know who I am!" The voice hardened. "But more importantly, I know who you are, Rose Tyler, , and I'm going to come and _GET YOU_!" The woman hung up, leaving her staring at the phone with an unreadable face.

"Rose? Rose Tyler?" Her voice raised an octave. "Who's Rose Tyler? My name isn't Rose!" She turned and gazed at herself in the mirror- platinum blonde waves haloing pale skin and lush, pink lips. Her eyes, bright green tinged with a golden-brown, stared back at her.

"My name isn't _Rose_! It's _Alice_!"

oOo

Alice hurried home, her collar turned up against the frigid wind. A particularly powerful gust sent her hand flying up to her nose, partially blocking her sight but not enough that she'd get lost. Besides, she was nearly to her flat now, and could get there with her eyes shut if necessary.

She pulled her coat tighter around herself and sped up her pace, walking by a tall blue box. She started, turned back around, and looked at it- she knew for a fact that it hadn't been there on her way to work at the shop. Stepping closer, her eyes wide with curiosity, she held one shaking hand- although why it was trembling, she didn't really know- and touched it to the blue wood, lightly skimming her fingers over it.

She shivered, something tugging at her from the back of her mind. She ignored it, gazing up at white lettering: POLICE BOX. Again, the consistent nudging of a memory or dream long forgotten, aching to come forward and reveal itself. She pushed back at it, forcefully shoving it back into the dim box it had snuck from until she felt it no longer.

She walked around the box twice, dragging her fingers over the bumps and crevices. Carefully scrutinizing every inch, she took a mental picture and decided to go home. With one last curious glance, she tucked her coat around her and ran the rest of the way to her flat. She didn't look back.

A tall, slim figure in a dark trench coat watched her leave with unreadable brown eyes, his face stony. "No," He whispered to himself, almost as if comforting. "It can't be…" He went to the blue box with slow, meaningful steps, opening the door and slipping inside.

There was another powerful wind, coming from the opposite direction of the other gusts, towards Alice's back. She shivered and turned around, her blonde hair whipping around her shoulders.

The blue box was gone.

oOo

Alice made herself a cup of tea, carrying it out to the living room and getting comfortable in front of the telly. She took a sip and let the steam warm her freezing cheeks. Turning on the telly, she flipped through the channels before landing on her favorite news station.

"…never seen anything like it!" The slightly pudgy reporter held the microphone close and huddled away from the cold, his hat flapping. "The police are baffled, the hospitals are baffled, everyone… is baffled." He tugged nervously at his tie before continuing. "Although we have talked to some of the civilians that have seen these- for lack of a better term- monsters, police refuse to let anyone inside to see them." The picture cut to the station across town, officers streaming in and out of the building. The reporter's voice floated from the background. "As you can see, no one is allowed in until further notice." Back to the reporter. "The people-er- monsters are being described as faceless, with no eyes, mouth, nose, or other facial features. Eyewitnesses claim-"

"Oi, come off it!" Alice said angrily, turning off the telly and sighing. "Rubbish! Faceless people? Absolute rub-"

Her mobile rang.

She groaned and set her cup of tea down on the coffee table, weaving her way back into the kitchen and rifling through the pockets of her coat until she found the ringing device, answering it and holding it up to her ear. "'Ello?" She ambled back into her living room and sat down heavily, crossing her legs.

"I'm getting _stronger_." It was that woman, from the other night, her voice less distant and more menacing, tinged with a furious edge. Alice sat up, her back straight and her body stiff. "Nearly ready now, and then I will be coming for you and your _precious_ Doctor." She cackled.

"Shut it!" She snapped, her temper flaring. "I don't know who you are, or how you got my number, but-"

She was interrupted by the woman's howling laughter. "You know who I am, Rose. Remember the darkness? That was me." The line went dead.

Alice growled and dropped her mobile on the ground, kicking it across the ground with a glare in its direction. "Stupid little…" She gave it one last scathing glance and turned her back on it, returning to her cooling tea.

oOo

Alice startled awake, falling off of the chair she was curled up in and onto the hard ground. For a moment she thought her phone was ringing again, and prepared to chunk it out the window, then she looked down at it lying silently on the floor and realized it was her doorbell.

She stumbled to the door, smoothing down her hair and straightening her shirt, then swung it open, her eyes still on her shirt, checking it desperately for any unacceptable wrinkles left over from sleep. "Yes?" She asked, sounding a bit too annoyed with the stranger for her liking. She blushed down at her feet.

The man at the door stood there without saying a word, his brown eyes only showing shock. His hand nervously ruffled his already tousled hair, then she looked up him with bright green eyes and he was startled out of his jumbled thoughts.

"Oh! Yes, right, sorry, you just look so much like someone I used to know," His voice faltered on _someone_, giving it a higher-pitched quality for the rest of the sentence. He cleared his throat. "So, anyway, moving on, I need to, erm… examine your telly. Routine inspection, nothing special about it." He grinned nervously.

She smiled back, an adorable little tongue-in-teeth beam that made the hole in his life gape a little more. "Yes, of course! May I see some credentials or something? Wouldn't want a complete _stranger_ bustling around in my house without me at least being sure he is who he says he is, now would I?"

He was taken aback. "I'm not a-" He caught himself before he said _stranger_, remembering that no matter how much she looked like _her_, she wasn't. He pulled a little leather wallet out of his pocket and flipped it open, showing her the contents.

"John Smith, telly repairs and electrician…" She read aloud, then her eyes flicked back up to his face with an amused expression. "Aren't you a bit over-dressed for an electrician?" Her hand snuck between the edges of his coat, opening it a little wider, revealing his blue pin-striped suit. His eyes widened, but he quickly hid his reaction in a small cough. She grinned again, and he noticed a tiny dimple on her right cheek. "Just teasing! Anyway, the telly's just through there, in the living room. Would you like a cup of tea while you're at it?"

He had already pushed past her and was striding into the living room. "Erm… sure?" He heard her banging around in the connected kitchen and bent down next to the telly, pulling a long silver tool out of his coat pocket. He gazed behind the telly at red electricity that arced from the socket to the circuits and cursed.

_**End of part one! Wow, and I still have thirty-one pages (in my notebook) until the end- of part one, not the whole story! Hope you're ready to do some mad reading, cause I'm gonna do some mad writing... Tell me what you think so far- I love hearing what people think of my writing!**_

_** ~CTST**_


	2. Episode One: Faceless Horror Part Two

_**Part two! Yes, I know, two in one night- and at an ungodly hour of the night, too! But, anyway, I've got writer's flu: so, basically, I'm still enthralled by this story, and I'm going to write like mad until it's over or I lose interest. But, don't shoot me, even when I lose interest, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop writing completely! Hell, I've been writing it in my notebook for a month-ish, I don't think I'll be getting bored any time soon! So, part two, enjoy yourself!**_

Alice poured the tea into two cups and dropped two spoonfuls into each. She carried them into the living room and sat one on the coffee table. The man- John Smith, apparently- was fiddling with the back of her telly, muttering under his breath.

"Tea," She said, her voice chipper and sing-song, and he peered over the top of the telly at her. She smiled and waved towards his cup, sitting on the short glass table. "Two spoonfuls, _just_ like you like," She paused. "Hang on- _did you even_-" She thought hard.

"No, I didn't. But, yeah, I _do_ like two spoonfuls of sugar, thanks." He gave her a strange look and backed out from behind her telly, grabbing his cup of tea and sipping it while staring seriously at the blank screen. "Sorry, I don't think I caught your name." He glanced up at her for a long moment, and she felt the room tense, like the world was holding its breath.

"Tyler." His face froze, a strange, unnamable emotion flicking across his eyes. "Alice Tyler." She smiled and held out her hand for him to shake.

He stared at her outstretched hand with that unusual emotion still plastered on his face. He swallowed hard, and Alice pulled her arm back to her side. She hesitated, then started back towards the kitchen. "Right, well, I'll let you get back to work, wouldn't want to hold you up!" She vanished around the corner.

He slapped his forehead. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" He tried to focus on the task at hand, setting his tea back down and slipping behind the telly. He pulled his tool back out and reached towards the sparking circuits.

Alice heard a sizzle and a muffled curse from the living room. She peeked around the corner. "You alright back there, Mr. Smith?"

He backed out of the little nook he'd been squatting in and faced her with a bemused expression. She held back a giggle, biting her bottom lip. His hair stood on end, toasted black at the ends, his eyebrows were singed, and his coat was smoking. His eyes sparkled, though, with the excited expression of a schoolboy after a successful prank.

"Oh, just brilliant!" He grinned, his teeth standing out in bright contrast to his sooty face. His smile was contagious- she couldn't help but smirk back at him with her unusual tongue-in-teeth little grin. He chose to ignore the sad pangs it sent jumping around in his hearts, diving back behind the telly. "Simply **_brilliant_**!" His voice wafted up, still tinged with barely contained enthusiasm.

Alice giggled to herself and returned to her work in the kitchen.

oOo

He came back up ten minutes later with a decidedly less excited expression. Alice chattered away for a while as he kicked the telly and cursed it. She grabbed his cold tea, still beaming and talking up a storm, and set about making another batch. By the time she returned to the living room with a steaming cup of tea, it was empty. He was gone.

He leaned his back against the girl's door. She was so much like _her_- and yet totally different. She was tinier, short and skinny, with wide eyes and that little dimple. Her eyes were green, although they did have a splattering of brown/gold, and her hair was straight. But other things were the same… They had the same bottle-blond hair (though Alice's seemed a bit more natural), the same way of smiling with their tongue tucked into their teeth, the same skipping walk, even the same way of holding their tea cups: one hand lightly slid around it one way, the other going the other way, thumbs hooked and one pinkie resting on top of the handle.

His head fell forward until his chin was resting on his chest. He tucked his hands deep into his pants pockets and relaxed one red converse against the other. His long fingers fiddled with his silver tool.

Then his head shot back up and he pushed off of the door, into the balcony rail. He glanced down at the concrete, six stories down, then jumped onto the top step and raced down two stairs at a time. When he got to the last three steps before the ground, he skipped them all and went flying over the last stairs. His bright red converse landed in the dirt with a **_THUD_**, sending up clouds of dust. He cast one last serious glance up towards Alice's flat, then turned decidedly on his heel and took a step forward.

_Screams. _He immediately spun around and raced for the stairs, _pulling_ himself up using the rail more than running. He didn't know where the awful screeching was coming from, but relied on his hearing to guide him to the right door. He passed the third, than the fourth, then the fifth floor. He started past the sixth, but realized the screaming was louder than ever.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," He muttered, striding past eight doors and coming to a stop before the ninth. "**_NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO,_**" Another ear-splitting shriek sent him clutching for the doorknob.

It was unlocked. He thanked his lucky stars and disappeared through the door.

An angry cackling came floating from the living room. Red light reflected off the walls, shadowing him in a sinister glow. His face was furious: eyebrows sunk low onto blazing eyes, mouth set in a determined line. He pulled out his silver tool and peered around the corner.

Evil scarlet tendrils snaked from the telly to Alice's face, which was slowly being sucked off by the laughing woman on the screen. She looked exactly how he remembered from Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. Short dark hair, a slim face, and eyes that revealed more than a little insanity. Her old-fashioned clothes and cracked red lipstick gave away how long she'd been waiting, hidden inside the tellies of London.

He wondered, for just a moment, why it was taking so long. He'd had time to run up six flights of stairs down a hallway, and yet the woman on her knees still had her face- well, more or less. Then Alice screamed again, and he burst into the room with his tool held high.

"Let her _go_, Wire!" He watched as the woman on the screen noticed him, her face dropping from smug to angry to horrified in a matter of seconds. The tendrils retracted, Alice falling to the ground in a heap. He quickly pressed his sonic to the blackening screen. The tip glowed blue and let off a buzzing noise, then the telly cracked and the woman was gone.

Alice whimpered and he knelt beside her, putting his hands on either side of her face and turning it to him. Her eyes fluttered and opened, revealing her large green eyes. He let out a sigh of relief. Her face was fine, completely whole and wonderful.

"Wh-wh-what was th-that?" Her voice was hoarse. "Sh-she called m-me l-last night and-and this a-afternoon." She tried to say something else, but he slid a thumb across her lips and she hushed.

He concentrated for a moment, and her eyes slowly closed. "Sleep, Alice, it'll be all right now… shh…" He laid her back down against the carpet gently and slid his coat off his shoulders, draping it over her. She shuddered, pulling it tighter around her.

"Who-who are yo-you?" She muttered, her forehead creasing, then her breaths evened and she was asleep.

_**So, you liked? I know I did! I love writing this fanfiction- well, any fanfiction, really. Can't wait to get it all up so you can love it as much as I do! I have so many ideas, I'll bet I can go on forever! Tell me what you think so far, I love getting reviews!**_

_** ~CTST**_


	3. Episode One: Faceless Horror Part Three

_**Yes, I know! Three in one day! Well, technically... although the second was posted over twelve hours ago. Anyway, part three! Things are just getting interesting, now it's time for Alice to get some answers from this mysterious man. (Though between you and me, knowing the Doctor as well as we do, he's not going to give her the exact ones she was looking for, and being the woman she is, it's going to drive her up the wall!) This one's a big longer than the others- I couldn't resist!- and has a lot of crucial information that will help everyone (writer, reader, and characters) in later episodes. So, enough of my blabbering, let's get to Alice and the Doctor!**_

Alice stretched, her comforter slipping down to her waist. She rolled over, her hand slipping under her pillow.

There wasn't one. She bolted upright, her eyes flying open. She was in her living room, on the floor, wrapped in a long overcoat she knew for sure wasn't one of her own. The events from before she fell asleep came rushing back, her last memory of the electrician's worried and yet somehow also furious face. She backed up against the sofa and pulled her knees up to her chest, cradling her aching head in her hands.

"Morning, sleepyhead." A familiar man's voice, splashed with amusement, wafted from the direction of the kitchen. She raised her eyes and saw the man she had just moments before been thinking of leaning casually against the wall, hands in his pockets. His tousled hair looked even messier than before, still singed black at the ends, and his eyes held an excited light that brightened his whole demeanor. She wondered briefly if his hair was as soft as it looked, then blushed inwardly and dismissed the thought. She had, after all, only just met the man.

"How long was I out?" She stood and dusted herself off. She reached down to her toes for a moment, and it was a good thing she couldn't see how his eyes flicked to somewhere she would've blushed about, and probably given him a good smack, as well.

He grinned, casting off his earlier indiscretion. "_Oh_, only about… three hours? Not _too_ long."

She groaned and ran her fingers through her hair, pulling out knots. "_Three hours_, he says. _Not _too_ long_, he says." She shook her head in an exasperated way and stumbled into the kitchen, putting a kettle on to boil. "You're joshing me. _Please_ tell me you're just joshing."

"Nope_._" He popped the 'p'. "Not joshing, I regret to say." The kettle screamed, and he pulled it off the stove, muttering something about domestics under his breath as he did so. Alice didn't miss that he had no problem handling the hot parts of the metal. He started fixing their tea, whistling a tune that sounded suspiciously like Für Elise mixed with a bit of pop. She put a hand over her mouth to resist laughing, then grew more serious and leaned against the counter with her arms crossed over her chest.

After a few long moments where the only sound was the pouring of water and the clang of spoons against cups, she cleared her throat. "Your name isn't John Smith, is it? And you _certainly_ aren't an electrician." She stared at the back of his head.

He dropped the last spoonful of sugar into the cups and turned around, mimicking her pose against the opposite counter. He looked at her with his impossibly clever eyes, then broke into a huge beam, little laugh lines creasing his face and somehow making him look younger- which didn't happen very often when it came to wrinkles, even the happy kind. "Took you long enough!" He laughed, throwing his head back. "You, Miss Tyler, are one hundred percent _right_! _Not_ John Smith- and definitely _not _an electrician." He made a face. "_Electrician_? How _boring_. Can't _believe_ you fell for that one. _Me_, an _electrician_?" His tall, gangly form quaked with laughter. Alice waited silently, her foot tapping impatiently.

He paused for air and noticed she wasn't laughing along with him (although she really did want to, he was adorable when he went into hysterics like this). She glared at him. "So, what you're telling me, is that I let a stranger in my house, stood by while he did God-knows what to my telly, and _slept_ while he was still here? Alone, in my flat, asleep, with a wandering _stranger_?" She put an emphasis on stranger, wanting to get across to him just how serious this was.

"Wellllllllll…" It was his turn to run a hand through his hair, which he seemed to be doing a lot since she'd met him. It appeared to be a habit of his, whenever he was thinking hard. She found it sort of enduring, really. "Yeah, pretty much." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Actually, I'm the Doctor, not a stranger. Never a stranger, not to anyone! Cause I'm the Doctor."

He said it with a flourished air, like she should have any idea who he was. And the funny thing was- she thought she did. The consistent wiggling in the back of her mind was back, but was too weak and fell before it could reveal itself. "Doctor… Doctor _who_?" She asked, and he grinned again.

"Ex-_actly_!"

She sighed. "Just… 'the Doctor', that's it? No other names, _nothing_?" She tapped her bottom lip with one fingernail. "How _boring_." He didn't realize what she'd done at first, then his eyes widened in realization and his lips circled into a little 'o'. He smiled a bit, getting her joke. "Ooh, imitating you, that's a bit fun! Anyway, seriously, don't you have another name, an _actual_ name?"

"_Nope_!" He popped the p again, another one of his cute little habits, but she hadn't the time to really enjoy it. He was having _way_ too much fun confusing her.

"Erm… okay? Still not quite sure I believe you, but what can I do? So… Doctor…" She hesitated, still slightly confused. "Who was that woman on the telly?" She explained the two times she'd been called and what she'd been told. "She kept calling me Rose. "Rose Tyler', she said. I tried to tell her that I wasn't whoever she thought I was, but…" She shrugged. "And then, after you left, I looked you- well, who you pretended to be- up in the phonebook, and it was _very_ obviously _not_ you. Honestly, Doctor, if you're so clever, why didn't you pick a name that would have actually _worked_? John Smith, aged fifty-one, dentist. Most definitely not _you_."

"Why? Do I not look at least fifty-one to you?"

She ignored him. "The telly suddenly turned on, and for a moment I was tempted to run screaming after you with a torch, ready to whack you a new one, but a voice stopped me. _Her_ voice. That woman. She started yelling about coronations and some plan that I-we- foiled. Then these, these, these," She struggled to describe the awful thing she'd seen. "These _things_ came out of the screen, and they…" She gestured towards her face. Obviously the sensation of having your face sucked off was too complex to explain in words. He understood the feeling; it happened to him quite a lot, actually. "It _hurt_, and all I could do was scream and scream and scream, and then you came in, and she just… left." She gave him an odd look. "What _did_ you do, anyway?"

He was still struggling over the emotional turmoil her name had left him in, and hadn't realized she'dstill been talking until her voice stopped. He looked at her, blank. She sighed and repeated her question. "Oh! Oh, nothing really, I just scared her away with my sonic screwdriver." He pointed to the silver tool, laying silently on the counter. She looked at It warily, expecting it to do something scary.

"Sonic…" She grinned and giggled. "Sorry, did you say sonic _screwdriver_? Bit Spock, don't you think?" His eyes widened and he tried to hide the horrible ripping that her innocent comment had sent plowing through his insides. She used to say the exact same thing, with the same tongue-in-teeth smile. Luckily, Alice's chatty nature saved him, and she went off about all the crazy things she'd seen and heard since the first phone call. After a while though, she stopped mid-sentence and squinted out the window. He turned his body so he could see what she'd seen. "It's… it's that blue box from this morning!" She pointed, astonished, at the box, partially hidden in some bushes and casting a shadow onto the asphalt. He shrugged.

"That old thing? Oh, that's just my ship, the TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space." Her eyes rounded into big circles. She stared at this strange man, drinking tea in her kitchen, and wondered how and why he'd come to be there. He looked normal enough, but the things he said and did, sometimes they just… She shook the feeling off and opened her mouth to speak. "And, yes, before you say it, I did mean _space_ship."

She rolled her eyes. "Actually, before you so rudely interrupted me, I was going to ask-"

The phone rang.

Alice jumped. "Oi! Again with the interrupting!" The Doctor- for she had already begun to think of him as that- ran into the living room with huge strides and scooped her mobile off the ground where she'd dropped it. She scurried after him, her shorter legs giving him the advantage. He'd already pressed hello when she finally got to where he was.

"Hello?" He listened, his face growing grave and serious. Alice stared up at the phone, already having figured who it was on the other line.

_**Ooh, cut-off ending! Well, if you've seen Doctor Who- which you obviously have, you're here, aren't you?- then you've already figured out who the villain of this story is, but Alice sure doesn't, and the Doctor isn't going to destroy her innocence by telling her! I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens... By the way, enjoying the little bit of fluff I'm throwing in? It isn't in the original copy, but I got a little adventurous and decided to give way for some of the cute little romance that buds between- Oh, but I can't tell you that! To pull on my inner River Song: SPOILERS! **_

_**~CTST**_


	4. Episode One: Faceless Horror Part Four

_**Oh my God I feel awful! Three posts in one day, and then not another for like four days! Anyway, here we are! Part Four at last! I'm going to try a whole lot harder to do one or two a day, especially since these have been so short. Which reminds me- should I combine the previous parts so they're longer? It's kind of frustrating for me, because if I keep going at this rate there'll be like ten parts per episode! And although that may SOUND good, it means the boring parts are going to draw out foooorrrrevverrrrrr, and you may get bored! And THAT would NOT be good. But, enough of my jabbering, enjoy!**_

Alice could vaguely hear the woman's voice, then the evil laugh that sent terrified tremors through her. The Doctor didn't notice, focused as he was on the voice. "No, **_YOU_** listen to **_ME!_**" Her gaze flicked quickly to his face, surprised by his menacing tone. His eyebrows were low, his forehead creased, and his eyes dark and frightening. She almost felt sorry for the woman- but then she remembered what had happened to her and the pity disappeared. "I've destroyed you once, and I can do it again. I will stop at absolutely **_nothing_** to hunt you down and **_torture_** you like you **_tortured_** my friends." His voice deepened, getting lower. "**I gave you your chance, and you came back for more. I don't ****_do_**** second chances**." He hung up and threw the mobile to the ground, disgusted. He turned back to her, his eyes still stormy, and gave her a smile that would have seen more genuine if the rest of his face hadn't looked so dangerous.

She was suddenly scared of him.

She took a hesitant step backwards, her own face creasing, and watched his eyes warily. Her heart sped up to a beat so fast she was sure he could hear it. All the blood drained from her body, leaving her pale and shivering. Her eyes, greener in her terror, widened but didn't leave his face.

He realized the affect his fury was having on her, even though they both knew it wasn't directed towards her in the least, and made a tremendous effort to calm himself back down. Hearing the woman's voice, seeing her in Alice's telly, had brought back memories he'd rather have forgotten. He struggled with himself for a few agonizing seconds, then the ancient look in his eyes faded and his muscles unclenched, if only a little. He shuddered, then buried his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." He whispered, to himself or to someone Alice couldn't see, and somehow the simple words let her fear leak out of her like a dripping faucet, her load getting steadily lighter. She resisted an urge to wrap her arms around him and kiss his forehead, instead placing a hand on his shoulder. He tensed, then unfroze and brought his eyes up to meet hers. He saw that her fear was gone, and was able to capture his own crazy emotions and cage them back up. He gave her a blinding beam, as if to make up for his previous moodiness, and stood straighter, towering over her in a good way. "Right then," He pushed past her and into the hall, his warm hand brushing up against her own. She blushed, glad he couldn't see. She heard a rustling, then his shaggy head peeked around the corner again. "You coming?"

"S-sorry? Coming where-?" He was already gone. She heard the front door being opened, and felt the tell-tale little burst of colder air, quickly running to join the Doctor so as to not be left alone. He was holding it wide, his coat back on his shoulders where it belonged and the huge grin still plastered on his face. Alice snatched her own coat off the rack and pulled it on, already shivering, and stepped out of her flat and onto the balcony. He closed the door tightly behind them.

"Okay, so," He said, wearing an adorably serious frown. She wondered who was more bipolar- her or the Doctor. Going from terrified to love struck within moments was not her norm. "The last time I saw _her_." He inclined his head towards the door to her flat. "Was on the day of Queen Elizabeth's coronation," He saw Alice's shocked face and grinned. "Don't worry, it was the second!" Her eyebrows shot even further up into her hair. _There's no way…!_ "Anyway, it was the Queen's coronation and she was using a telly shop to get to new victims. I'm assuming that's the case here, too. But there are too many options; I need to narrow it down a bit…" He paced back and forth between the door and the railing, his Converse squeaking. "Think!" Her eyes narrowed, and she started to give him a sharp retort, then she realized he'd been talking to himself and blushed, embarrassed. She paused, and decided that, even though he was talking to himself, he wouldn't mind if she added what little information she had to his jumbled thoughts.

"Well," He turned to her, still distracted. "I was watching the telly earlier, before you came, and I saw something… strange." His eyes locked onto hers, his entire being listening. "The reporter said something about… about monsters, faceless people or something." He nodded, and she was glad she'd remembered the pudgy reporter's words. "He said the coppers had them, hidden somewhere in their offices."

The Doctor clapped happily and grabbed her hand, his eyes sparkling. He gave it a squeeze. "Oh, you're brilliant, you are!" He laughed and spun, his coat swirling, taking off down the road. "Come on, Alice, show me!"

She sputtered for a moment, then ran after him, her hair going wild in the wind. "But, Doctor, they aren't letting anyone inside!"

oOo

Alice sat on the bottom step of the stairs to the police station next to the fuming Doctor. He ranted angrily about the idiocy of England's police force, waving his hands around and making a big fuss. "That lot wouldn't even let me in when I showed them the physic paper! They _always_ let me in when I show them the physic paper!" He grinded his teeth and crossed his arms.

She let him cool off a bit, then realized it would probably not end up very well for everyone inside if the Doctor didn't get as he wanted. "You know, Doctor," She said, her tone amused. "There's always the back exit." He rotated towards her, incredulous.

"You didn't think to tell me this earlier?" He rolled his eyes. "Sometimes I really don't understand humans."

She giggled. "Slipped my mind?" He raised an eyebrow. She snickered. "Do you want me to show you or _not_?" She grabbed the sleeve of his jacket and pulled him to the side of the building. She could feel her adrenaline already creeping up, just like it always did when she was getting ready to pull a stunt that could very possibly get her into heaps of trouble. She smiled. She always did love a good adventure.

They cleared away old scraps and cardboard boxes, revealing a rusty door sunken into the wall. She reached for the disgusting handle and changed her mind. "It is rather dirty…"

He made a face. "Not it! Ladies first, Alice."

"Age before beauty!"

"Life not yet we- Oi! You calling me _old_?" He glared at her, then paused. "Actually, yeah, you're right. I am old. Still, that saying doesn't apply to me!" She rolled her eyes and pulled her sleeve up her hand, grasping the handle and scrunching her face, turning it with a rusty crunch.

"Locked." She shrugged. "S'pose we'll have to come back later; tonight or something." Her face lit up. "Ooh, lock picking! I've always wanted to try lock picking!" She grinned and started walking back to the front of the building. A strange noise made her pause and twist back to the Doctor.

He was bent down next to the door handle, holding his sonic screwdriver to it. He was frowning, concentrating, and she had to admit that the serious look suited him. She took her eyes off his face and tried to focus on his sonic. The tip glowed blue, and the strange- but not unpleasant- buzzing she heard seemed to be emanating from the clear-ish chamber in the center. She watched him for a few moments, her eyes wide and curious, then there was a click and the Doctor pushed the door open. He chuckled, seeing her astonished expression, and they exchanged giddy smiles.

"After you, Madame," He bowed and held his hands towards the open doorway. She curtsied and took his offer, stepping lightly through the shadows. He followed after her, the door slamming shut behind them.

"You know," Her voice echoed in the dark. "I don't know why you couldn't have just done that in the first place." He laughed, and a light turned on. She jumped and looked up at him, his hand still on the light switch. The sonic screwdriver was gone, tucked back into his pocket. The harsh yellow light revealed just how small of a room they were in, and Alice could feel every inch between her and the Doctor's warm body. She reddened, and realized she'd been doing that a lot recently. He didn't notice, looking around. They were in a janitors closet; an old one, though, covered in a layer of dust. Alice smiled to herself at the irony and stepped over a fallen mop, fighting her way to the door. She heard a clatter, and spun around, heart thumping wildly. The Doctor stood in the middle of a pile of brooms and buckets, giving her a sheepish grin. She stifled a giggle and held a finger to her lips, motioning for him to come closer. He struggled past the fallen mess and they pushed the door open together.

A young cop cried out when he saw the two emerge from the forgotten room of the building, pointing and waving for his comrades to catch the trespassers. Alice and the Doctor sprinted off down the hall, pursued by a mob of angry- and more than a little confused- police officers. They skirted around the corner, and he stopped, turning to face the out-of-breath cops. She realized she was running alone and flushed, going back to stand by his side.

"Oh, come on!" The Doctor teased, laughing. "You call yourselves coppers? It was only a couple meters, not enough to really wind someone!" He raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at a particularly overweight man, who was breathing heavily and clutching his side. "Bit out of shape, aren't you?" The two front-most men exchanged a look and marched forward to roughly grab their arms.

_**Annnnnd scene! Just kidding, I'll not be like that. So, did you like? Sure, it's not to the most interesting bit yet, but it's definitely speeding up, right? Well, I've got to go now, don't want to waste your time on a super long author's note. Got to go type up part five! **_

_**~CTST**_


	5. Episode One: Faceless Horror Part Five

_**Part Five! Ugh, finally, I got an episode up only a day after the last one... Anyway, I figured out what I'm going to do about how SHORT my episodes are. I'm just going to double how long the most recent ones have been: you know, like parts one and two will both be part one, three and four will become two, etc. Sound good? I think it'd be great for both of us- though it MAY take a bit longer for me to upload each part, seeing as there'll be more typing to do. I'm not going to put this brilliant plan into action 'till episode two, so bear with me until then, okay? So, get reading!**_

The older officer, who had introduced himself- grudgingly, but still- as Lieutenant Jeffreys, crossed his arms and glared at the Doctor. "So you expect me to believe that you can help us with the monster problem?" He snorted.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Have you been listening the past ten minutes, or not? I've dealt with this thing; I know how to fix it! I've done it before, I can do it again!" He leaned forward in his chair, setting his elbows on his knees and making a teepee with his fingers. He looked seriously over the top at the officers, his brow creased. "Just let me see the... monsters… and I'll be on my way." She could tell calling them- whatever _them_ were- monsters almost, dunno, _exasperated_ him. He glanced at her with one raised eyebrow, and she nodded once. Only known him for a day, and she could already tell what he was thinking- well, sort of. Just a general feeling, really. Like, for instance, she could feel him asking if she trusted him. And the weirdest part wasn't that she understood what he was asking, but that she _did _trust him. Wholeheartedly, even. _Oh, God, _she thought, _I'm being so cliché! Next I'm going to be talking about soul mates and horoscopes!_ "We- that is, Alice and I- need five minutes with them, and then we'll be out of your hair for good." He paused. "Wellll, no assurances. I tend to run into London's finest-" He made a face. "-quite often these days. So, no harm in a few minutes, right? Couple o' ticks, then we'll be off." Lieutenant Jeffreys started to protest, but a dirty look from the Doctor made him sputter like a nervous teenage boy at a high school dance before falling silent. The younger man, whom Alice had forgotten about until then, spoke for the first time.

"I'll take you." The three others in the room whipped around to face him, with various degrees of surprise showing on their faces.

The Doctor grinned like a child presented with the toy of his dreams and said "Brilliant!" at the same moment L. Jeffreys scowled.

"Now hold on a moment!" He growled. Alice couldn't help herself and giggled, earning an amused glance from her new friend, who she could tell was trying to hold in his own laugh. The small, balding man looked like an angry toddler- red cheeks and protruding belly and all- compared to the Doctor, who gave her a tiny wink like he could tell what she was thinking. "You aren't authorized to-"

"Oh, shut the hell _up_!" The younger one rolled his eyes, and his superior's pair seemed to bug out of his head. "It's not like _they_ can hurt anyone, even if they wanted to, not that I think they would. Besides, fat lot of good we're doing!" Alice smirked at his word choice. _Fat_ was right, nearly all of these men had more than their fair share of biscuit-bellies. "Can't even _feed_ them! If this man says him and his lady friend-" The mentioned girl blushed. "-can do anything to help them, who're we to deny them that?" He ignored L. Jeffrey's shocked expression and pulled open the door, marching out and into the hallway without a backward glance. The Doctor glanced at Alice, who was watching the whole scene unfold with a half-grin and one raised eyebrow, and grabbed one her hands, pulling her gently off the table and after the cop.

They can hear the old man's peeved huffs of indignation, then his cross voice echoes after them. "**_AXEL_**! You're **_fired_**_!_" The door slammed.

Axel laughs and the other two look at him with baffled expressions. He held his hands up. "I quit- for the fourth time- two weeks ago, he's just too senile to ever remember!" Their eyebrows go up simultaneously, and then they're all laughing, Alice clutching the Doctor's bicep.

oOo

"_Blimey_, there must be at least a _hundred_!" The Doctor bounced on the balls of his feet and bounded around the room with determined enthusiasm, his usual thoughtful, brow-furrowed expression. He turned on his sonic screwdriver and disappeared into the midst of the mob of faceless people.

_Oh. My. __**God**__._ Alice swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat. Tears stung her eyes. She stared around her at the blank _nothing_ where there ought to be noses and mouths, even _freckles_ were gone! Her heart constricts painfully. _Oh, hell, the reporter was right. Faceless- oh my God, I was almost… _She started to reach towards one, a teen with long brown hair streaked with pink, but the girl shifts minutely towards her hand and she loses her courage, sucking in a tortured breath. The girl goes back to her ceaseless swaying, and she feet insanely guilty for refusing her the comfort of a touch. She struggled with herself, but terror wins out and she can't bring herself to reach out again. "Doctor?" Her voice shook. "Where- where are their faces? Oh my God, I can't believe I was almost like…" She couldn't go on, it was all too much for her. She fell back against the wall, her hand cupped over her mouth.

He's at her side in an instant, a hand on her elbow. "_Never_." He growls into her ear, his warm breath tickling her neck. "I would _never_ let that happen to you, do you understand me? _Never_, Alice. I promise." She looks up at him, moisture clinging to her lashes. He brushes a tear away as it falls, and the familiar gesture sweeps him into a memory of _her_.

_"__Doctor!" She cried, her voice strangled, scrambling at the door as the searing heat of the expanding sun slunk towards her. "Doctor, please, get me out! Please! Doctor!"_

He shuddered and blinked rapidly, cursing and releasing her elbow. Thank Rassilon, she was too distracted by a thought to notice, but he couldn't let her think he was pulling away after getting so close. "A-Alice, if it's too much, you can go wait in the hall for me, okay?" His hearts ache, but he had more pressing matters to deal with before nursing his own emotional pain.

She was dealing with her own fuzzy flashback; a soft woman's voice, reassuring and familiar, was pushing at the back of her mind. Unlike the Doctor, she wasn't able to stop her trail of thought and fell into a puddle of hazy, confusing memories she didn't remember experiencing.

_"…__all I could feel was the darkness." A blurry figure holds her close, stroking her hair. She leans into the embrace. "All around me, like that was all there'd ever been. I forgot everything about myself before, except for one little mantra that kept me going." Though the words were morbid, she smiled happily and spoke at the same time as the figure, like it was a story told often that she'd memorized. "'He's coming… The-"_

Then nothing: no, not _nothing_ exactly, more like a wall had been thrown up, blocking her from the rest of the memory. She was suddenly back in the large room, surrounded by faceless people and being watched by a worried Doctor. She had an instant headache, like someone had decided it would be fun to pound on her skull with a boulder. Her limbs felt incased in concrete, and her mind swam in unrelenting uncertainty and restlessness. "A-Alice, if it's too much, you can go wait in the hall for me, okay?" She nodded, her eyes hooded, and started to back out, then turned and fled.

He sighed, watching her leave, and resumed scanning a red-headed toddler with his sonic.

She leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths, her chest heaving in panic. The door swung open, and Axel stuck his head and arm out. "Um, a call for… you?" He looked completely bewildered. Her gaze went to his hand, to his mobile. She took it with tingling fingers, something that always seemed to happen to her whenever something important was about to happen. She looked at him hesitantly, then put it to her ear.

"Hello?" The person on the other end answered, and Alice's eyes widened in horror. She pushed past Axel and motioned frantically at her ear, trying to make as little noise as possible while getting the Doctor's attention. Luckily, he understood, and left the crowd of faceless people. He twisted the top of his sonic screwdriver and held it to the mobile, making a 'draw it out' sort of movement. The buzzing of the sonic sounding calmly in her ear, she nodded. "_You_!"

"Oh, _yes_." The woman's voice was stronger than she'd ever heard it, practically inside her head. "It _is_ me, Rose, and I bet you're _quaking_ with fear!" He heard the name and froze, his eyes shocked and slightly misty. Alice snapped her fingers between his eyes and he jumped, coughing in an embarrassed way and going back to work on the phone.

"How do you keep _finding_ me?" She was pleased that her voice was strong, sure. "What _are_ you?"

Giggles; lifeless, almost _nothing_ laughs, like a bored mother only laughing to appease her needy child. Alice detested the noise. "Silly girl," She disliked the nickname even more. "You forget, I've been inside you head- twice!" I can find you anywhere…" The tone changed from sickeningly sweet to scolding. "And tell the Doctor to put away his _ridiculous_ toy- it's no use, anyway." The line went dead.

Alice and the Doctor exchanged unnerved looks and ran from the room. Axel's mobile dropped from her grasp and clattered to the ground, forgotten.

_**End of part five! God, that sounds so much more impressive then it actually is. So, I'm off, got lots of typing to do, and some Doctor Who to watch. Currently enjoying 'Closing Time' of Season Six: pretty good episode, I will admit, but it'd be a lot better if there was a lot more David Tennant and a lot less Matt Smith (aka none at all). Ugh, I miss that cute little face... Can't WAIT to finally see it again on Saturday! Well, I've got to go! Love you all! Bye!**_

_**~CTST**_


	6. Episode One: Faceless Horror Part Six

_**Ugh, I don't know about you, but to me this story feels like it's dragging! This is my least favorite out of all the one's I've written/planned, too, but it was a necessary sacrifice to introduce Alice gently into the Doctor's world. Oh well, it's almost over, and then we can get down to the REAL fun. I think there'll be like one more part, possibly two, DEFINATELY no more than three. Seriously, I'll cut out bits so it doesn't end up so long... Well, get reading!**_

"All right, what do we know?" The Doctor paced back and forth in the parking lot outside of Alice's flat, his trainers squeaking.

"Um, well, she sucks people's faces off." Alice grimaced. "Quite _endearing_, really."

"Yes, I must admit it's rather nasty. Actually, she literally sucks the electric pulses sent from the brain to the face straight up, leaving a blank slate." He looks pleased for a moment. "Took me and- um… me and a friend- quite a while to figure that one out, and yet it was so simple! But, that's us for you, always overlooking the obvious and trying to figure out some complicated, confusing solution. Mind you, usually the solution _was _complicated and confusing…" His pacing speeds up.

She gives him an odd look, thinking _really, Doctor, is now the time? _"She uses tellies to get to people? And… oh! She can call as well! You know, on their mobile." Horror flits across her eyes. "Oh my God, do you think she can get at you from your mobile?"

He thought. "Nah, I don't think that'll happen. But, yeah, she couldn't do that last time, she's learning some new tricks." He shudders. "Old dogs learning new tricks… never a good thing."

Alice balked. "So, you mean, she's stronger than before?"

"Eh," He grinned. "Either that or desperate." He slowed down and came to an abrupt stop, staring at a point just above her shoulder. "Last time, she used a telly shop as base." He winced. "Right, remind me not to say that again. She could only jump from a certain kind, if that makes sense." She nodded. "Hold on! There wasn't any dust around your telly, but there was plenty on some of the other surfaces." She blushed, and he cringed. "Sorry, that was rude, wasn't it?" He grinned apologetically. "Still not use to this gob, no matter how long it's been since I got it. Anyway," He clapped. "Did you recently buy a new telly?"

She suddenly realized where he was going with his train of thought. "Yeah, I did!" She giggled and copied his little clap. "I bought one only a few days ago, got a _smashing _deal on it, too!"

"So, I guess old dogs _don't_ always learn new tricks…" He held out an elbow, beaming. "Would you like to go telly shopping with me, Alice Tyler?"

She hooked her arm around his. "As a matter of fact, Doctor, I'd love to!" They smiled briefly at each other, then promptly turned around and set off down the road, him swinging her cutely on his elbow and laughing when she caught her foot on her shoelace and nearly tripped.

oOo

The bell over the door rang softly, letting the two glide forward into the musty shop. The owner, a portly man with a huge bald spot in the center of the top of his head, jolted upright and squinted at them.

"Aye," He said, suspicious. "Din' you a'rea'y buy one te'y thi' week? Don' te' me you a'rea'y wa' a'o'er!"

The Doctor took a moment to decipher what he'd actually said. He saved Alice from answering with a gracious smile."Actually, _I'm_ here to buy one! My wonderful friend here," He held up Alice's hand and she gave him a little wave. "Told me about the _brilliant_ deal she'd gotten on your tellies, and I decided I'd just _have_ to stop in and get a piece of the action!" He grinned manically, in a cheesy way.

The shopkeeper still looked wary, but he shrugged and waved them off, returning his attention to his lap. She heard a rustle, like magazine pages turning, and made a disapproving sound in her throat. The Doctor looked scandalized. "Go a'ea', ta'e a loo' aroun', jus' don' brea' any'in'." He pulled the magazine up onto the counter and both looked away, blushing furiously. "Fis'oo's fo' 'wen'y qui'?" He muttered. "Mus' be jo'ing!" They glanced at the cover hesitantly. Instead of what they expected to see, there was only a picture of a high-tech fishing rod. The Doctor coughed, and she giggled a bit at his mystified expression.

The Doctor bent down to Alice's level and whispered in her ear, his breath hot. "Alright, ignore the nutter, look for something unusual, out of place in the shop, sort of old-fashioned and small. Like… a portable telly or something."

She glanced around, then cleared her throat. "You mean… like _that_?" She pointed towards the corner of the room. A little brown box sat on top of the biggest telly in the shop. The device had a small black screen, three big buttons, and two huge antenna that protruded out of the top like rabbit ears. Alice was reluctant to go nearer the thing, but the Doctor whistled in a decidedly excited way.

"You sure haven't changed a bit, have you? Well, aside from the…" He waved at his head. "How long's it been?" He cooed and stroked the smooth wood. "A very long time, that's for sure. And just _look _at you! Don't look a day over thirty!" He cocked his head. "But then, neither do I, not _really_." She rolled her eyes, and he turned to look at her with a wide-eyed expression. "Last time I saw this was right before Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. She," He nodded to the box. "was going to use the enormous event to get to millions of victims, all in one go." His eyes darkened, and his lip straightened into a severe line. "But w- I defeated her, and I _thought_ she was gone forever. Apparently not." He brightened back into his usual chipper, bouncing self. "Come on, think Doctor, what big event is coming up?"

She paused, then something her friends had been talking about came to mind and she gasped. "Oh! There's the Winter Olympics! Everyone from all over the world's going to be tuned in on that!"

"Hm… no wonder I didn't think of anything- not too fond of the Winter Olympics, they're not nearly as interesting as the summer ones. Besides, when you have millions of Summer Olympics to watch, why bother with the other ones?" He frowned. "The world… sure are shooting high this time, aren't you, Wire?" He glared at the screen and ran a hand through his rumpled hair, sighing. "Right, Winter Olympics. S'pose that's not the worst last thing to see." He paced, and Alice kept an eye on the shopkeeper, who had lost interest in his magazine and was regarding them distrustfully. "I need to…" He muttered formulas under his breath, spinning random parts of the sonic screwdriver. The shopkeeper slid off of his stool and inched closer.

"Doctor…" She whispered, but he continued talking to himself about the probability of combustion and whether or not there'd be a guard on the interior. "Doctor- we've got company…" He ignored her, and she grew more anxious by the moment.

"Aha!" He turned as the shopkeeper got ever closer and pointed the sonic towards the box. It shuddered, emitting a ear-splitting shriek, then shattered, wood flying towards Alice and the fat shopkeeper. She threw her hands in front of her face, but he stood still as the sharp bits cut at his flab and left red scratches. "Oh, _brilliant_! Why didn't I think of that before? _So_ much easier than chasing him up a tower!" He smiled at his companion, looking for all the world like a child given access to the Chocolate Room of Willy Wonka's factory.

"_What have you done?" _The shopkeeper screamed, but not in his own voice. It was the woman from the telly. "_You ruined everything!_" He- she- froze, listening to an internal voice. "_Oh,_" She smiled, showing yellowed teeth. "_What is this? Looks like I can carry out my plan, after all! Thanks anyway, Doctor!" _She cackled, and his mouth dropped open, spewing red tendrils that snaked down his double chin. They snuck towards the nearest telly, pushing into the screen and sparking as they entered. They slipped into the circuits and pulsed through the wires. Her face flashed briefly on the screen as the shopkeeper collapsed, his limp body slapping the ground with a disgusting thud. Alice winced, but her gaze was rooted to the telly.

"You might have destroyed my transmitter, and if we were still in that… _limited_… time that would have stopped me for good, but now… well, I've always got the satellites!" Her face faded into darkness.

Alice glanced at the Doctor and instantly regretted it. The dark, angry look she'd seen twice now was back, all traces of his earlier excitement gone. He gave her a fleeting glance, then bent down next to the fallen shopkeeper and placed his long fingers between rolls of fat on his neck.

"Dead." His voice was deep, solemn. He straightened and held his hand out to Alice. She hesitated, then took it with an equally serious stare. Surprise flashed across his face for an instant. He shook it off and pulled her out into the street.

His head whirred with possible scenarios. He didn't voice them aloud- no point in scaring the girl any more than he had, no matter how impossibly calm and _strong_ she seemed at the moment- but they jumped around in his head like rubber balls. He let go of her hand and gazed around at the tall, thin houses on either side of them. The last time he'd seen the Wire, there'd been satellites clustered on the roofs of the houses that'd gotten Mr. Magpie's new tellies, but she'd been smarter this time and used the satellites already in place or even the underground cables. He cursed and thumped his head with the butt of his hand. "Think, think, think," He muttered, then pulled out his sonic screwdriver and kissed it. "Of course!" He switched the setting and turned it on, holding the buzzing rod out in front of him. He swung it around until the buzzing increased. He started off in that direction, Alice scurrying after with her considerably shorter legs.

"I'm following her electromagnetic pulse!" He explained, his eyes twinkling again. He grinned down at her. "She's been devouring so many people's faces, _sucking_ the electricity right out of them, that the sonic screwdriver can_easily_ track her through the city, no matter how hard she tries to hide in places of high electricity." He turned his attention back to the sonic and took big steps towards the heart of London.

_**You liked? Best part of this story so far, though the next bit is WAY better. Can't wait to get to episode two, though... See you soon!**_

_**~CTST**_


	7. Episode One: Faceless Horror Part Seven

_**Yes, that's right! Part seven, the end of Episode One! It's much longer, more like how long I want the parts of the other episodes to be. That way, there'll be only three or four parts instead of seven. Thank God, too, because I don't think I could handle an episode I don't particularly like drawing out for as long as this has. So: if you like this episode, sorry, but it's over, and if you didn't really like it all that much, hang on a bit longer cause better things are coming!**_

"Oh, this is _fantastic_!" The Doctor thumped the metal tower with his knuckles. It clanged, making a different noise from the other towers he'd knocked. It seemed to reverberate through them, flowing through the air and bursting the silence. Alice shuddered. "Much more thought out than last time, I'll give her that. It's nearly brilliant…. Nearly." He smirked at her. She grinned back at him and joined him next to the tower. She could practically feel the evil radiating off of the cool metal, chilling the air around them.

"Two days ago," She said, her voice low. "I would have never believed that I'd nearly get my face sucked off, track a fake woman across London with a screwdriver-"

"Oi! That's _sonic _screwdriver!"

"-or talk to a man I've never seen before like a childhood friend." She shook her head. "And yet…"

"And yet here you are," The Doctor gave her a funny look, almost like he was seeing her for the first time. A yellow curl slipped over her eyebrows, her green eyes wide in realization, and her top teeth were snug over her bottom lip, leaving pale crescents in the pink flesh. Absorbed as she was in her own thoughts, she didn't notice him looking, and put an unsteady hand against the tower.

"And yet here I am," She agreed, holding onto the tower like a life raft. She felt overwhelmed by her situation, unable to focus or calm down. She trembled.

She hadn't realized how much she'd needed a hug until the Doctor's arms were around her, smelling of books and something else, something old. She froze for a moment, conflicted, then she relaxed, resting her head on his chest and breathing in his scent. He gripped her tightly, his face buried in her bottle-blonde hair, then let her go and spun back to the tower. He started tapping beams with the sonic screwdriver, winding his way around the base, his coat flapping in the wind. Alice's emotions were warring, fighting for a hold on her. Confusion, surprise, even anger. She didn't know how to respond to the hug, even though she was sure he had just been doing the best he could to keep her sane. She decided to just ignore the embrace, pass it off as absolutely nothing. She hurried to the Doctor, walking beside him as he knocked the tower.

"I'm trying to tap into the source," He explained, still banging on the beams. "One of the these is not like the other… and we've got to find it." They walked in silence for a few minutes, the only sound the even ding of metal and metal. "Got you!" The Doctor cried, hitting one that sounded a bit more muffled than the rest. He twisted the top of his sonic screwdriver, changing the setting, and hit the support one more time.

Alice gasped. He glanced at her and tried to suppress the urge to laugh. Her eyes, which he was already very fond of in his own little way, were huge and bounced all over the metal, taking in the thick red tendrils that knotted together and climbed up the beam, all the way up to the top. He could practically see the little gears whirring away in her head, trying to take in and explain the mess all around her. He gave her a few moments to absorb the new information.

"Each of these little things is a face. He watched her expression change to one of horror. "She's still absorbing their energy- hasn't had enough time to finish, that's why they're still so thick. The more absorbed they are, the smaller they get." As they watched, a few more snaked out of the ground and up to the top. Alice shuddered, stepping closer to the Doctor's warmth. "Once they're all gone… there's no way to get anyone's faces back." He pushed up on the sonic, pushing out a clear chamber. The tendrils popped and smoked, shrinking down into the ground. Then, all at once, and insanely fast, they started getting smaller.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor growled, and paced around the beam with agitated steps. He ran a hand through his hair and glared up at the top of the tower. "You can't _do this_!" He screamed, his face twisting in anger. "They're _innocent people_, you can't just _murder _them!" He jumped towards the beam, only to be pushed away by scarlet electricity. He picked himself off the ground, his coat smoking, and cursed, fiddling with his sonic screwdriver.

"Doctor," Alice said, her voice still low and trembling. "What's _happening_?"

He looked at her with compassion in his deep brown eyes. He hated to take away her innocence, but he also didn't want to give her false hope. He sighed. "She- she's here. Absorbing the energy as quickly as she can."

Her emotions flashed across her face, horror and something akin to shock. He winced, already wishing he could take it back, but it was too late for that. "I thought you said it would take _time_ for that!"

"I did," He pulled on his earlobe. He wanted to hug her, or at least comfort her, but there wasn't enough time. "But that was as long as she wasn't _here_." He kept turning the different parts of the sonic screwdriver and pressing buttons. "That was as long as she was still out collecting electronic pulses. And now… she's up there, sucking up the energy as quickly as possible." He nodded his head towards the tower.

Alice glared up at the top, barely even hearing the faint buzzing of the sonic anymore. She missed hearing the Doctor's frantic calculations, missed him throwing the sonic screwdriver, but she _didn't_ miss him running straight at the beam and getting bounced back. He screamed up at the tower, his eyes dark.

Alice realized what she had to do. She picked up the fallen sonic and slipped it into her pocket. She backed into the beam opposite the infected on, remembering the thin ladder she'd seen built into the side of it. She spun around and started climbing.

The Doctor heard the clink of her belt buckle against the metal rungs and turned around, squinting up at her. His eyes widened, and he immediately started climbing up after her, his movements frantic. She glanced down at him and wrapped her arm around the ladder, fumbling with the sonic until it just felt right. She held it against the rung directly below her foot. It cracked, then swung free, leaving the bottom part of the ladder hanging on by one thin rod. She pressed the sonic to the other rod and it went falling to the ground. Luckily the Doctor hadn't been that far up, and was able to land on his feet. She smiled apologetically at him and switched the sonic screwdriver off, pushing it back into her pocket. She kept climbing.

Her head started to hurt, like it did whenever she had one of those strange blackouts. She had no idea how she'd known what setting to put the sonic screwdriver on, but one thing was for sure- there wasn't enough time to worry about it. She pulled herself up the ladder, higher and higher, until she could see the top of the tower.

Red tendrils snaked into a little silver ball at the very summit of the tower. The red electricity from below was not surrounding the knob- possibly because she had not expected any visitors, but most likely because all of her energy was focused solely on absorbing the electronic pulses. Whichever it was, Alice didn't care. She flicked open the chamber, turned on the sonic, and pressed it directly onto the ball.

Pain. Red-hot, firey pain. The woman directed all of the electricity into Alice, trying desperately to get her off. But instead of dropping, she curled her free hand and legs around rungs of the ladder, using all of her strength to push the sonic onto the ball. They both screamed in agony, electricity flashing and cracking. The tendrils sizzled and burned to white ash, scattering in the wind. Fire licked at the corner of her vision, sending pain flares through her body.

Alice pressed the sonic down once more, then darkness consumed her and she fell, the sonic screwdriver dropping from her grasp. It rolled over the edge, her own body following soon after. The two- girl and tool- plummeted towards the unrelenting ground below.

Strong arms snatched Alice out of the air, the ground still ages away.

oOo

Alice groaned and clutched her head, rolling over onto her stomach and sliding her hands underneath her. She pushed herself up and looked around at her surroundings.

The Doctor was there, leaning against a blinking, whirring pedestal thing that came up from the floor. A long, fat tube filled with blue tubes (that were moving up and down) reached into the ceiling. The walls were yellow, covered in orange, protruding circles. A small blue door with 'Police Box' written on it in white letters was set into one wall.

"Hold on," She looked back to the Doctor, her eyes excited and filled with wonder. "I know that door! We're in that blue box, your ship, the…" She paused. "The… the… TARLIS? Something like that."

He laughed. "The TARDIS."

"Right, knew that." She winced. "You know, I think I may be dead… One moment, I was zapping that ball with your screwdriver-"

"Oi! That's _sonic_ screwdriver!"

"And the next, I'm waking up on some hard floor- for the second time since I've met you, by the way. You'd think it was getting to be a habit!" She smiled her tongue-in-teeth little grin.

The Doctor laughed and pressed a lever. There was a bit of shuddering, then the blue tubes stopped moving. He pointed to the door. "Your flat's out there," He followed her to it and out, stepping out onto cold concrete.

Alice giggled wildly and spun on her toes, spiraling her arms around her. "Never thought I'd be so happy to see _this_ wretched place!" She bounced towards the stairs, then turned and looked at the Doctor. He had the stunned look of a deer caught in headlights, his nose crinkled a bit. "Oh, and I almost forgot…" She took a deep breath. "It's _bigger_- on the inside!" The stunned look disappeared as he laughed. She giggled with him, and couldn't stop laughing, until they were in hysterics and laughing so hard they couldn't breathe.

The Doctor was the first to stop, clutching his side. "Alice," His voice was serious. Her peals of laughter dwindled to little giggles, and she looked up at him with twinkling green eyes. She raised her eyebrow. "You know… I'm all alone in there," He inclined his head towards the TARDIS. "And, I was wondering, if maybe… maybe you'd like to join me?" He sped up before she could reply. "We could go anywhere, anytime, whole planets waiting for us to explore- past, present, and future." He smiled shyly. "Of course, only if you'd like…"

Alice thought. "Is every day like this for you? The danger, the _thrills_?" He nodded. "And can you _really_ travel through time and space?" He nodded, more enthusiastically. She squealed and jumped. "Do you even have to ask?"

The Doctor beamed, his demeanor going from self-aware and a bit nervous to excited. He laughed, grabbing her bicep. "Brilliant! _Brilliant_!" His hand drifted down her arm and he knotted their fingers together, grinning. She blushed and smiled back, biting her bottom lip. He started pulling her into the TARDIS, then paused, one hand on the doorknob. "Alice Tyler… are you ready to experience words?"

She stared up at him with large green eyes, her gaze filled with wonder. She stood up on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. His arms circled her, and she threw her feet up, squealing. He swung her around, both laughing. "So, where to first? Fourteenth century? The year three thousand thirty-four? Ooh, that's a good one. Or how about a different planet? Mallen? Orets? Raxacoricofallapatorius? I've got a lot of history with that one…" He beamed and set her on her feet, pulling her behind him into the TARDIS.

There was a big gust of wind, an unusual whooshing noise, then the blue box was gone, the Doctor and Alice with it.

_**The end of episode one! Finally! Now we can get down to the fun stuff. I've got great things coming- little demon girls, Cybermen with emotions (not a good thing at all, by the way, they tend to get especially homicidal), parallel worlds where the Doctor is just a telly show character... Don't give up on me now, I've got amazing things on the way!**_

_**~CTST**_


	8. Episode Two: Dolls of the Devil Part One

_**Sorry it took sooo long for me to upload this, but I've had a CRAZY past week or so. First, I got grounded from the Internet (Something about spending to much time on Youtube and Facebook... not exactly sure why, I'm VERY responsible with my time online- wink wink.), then I got grounded from the ENTIRE computer (I would spend up to like four or five hours typing and editing my photos. For some reason, my parents think this is totally inappropriate and a waste of time.), and THEN it took me FOREVER to type up this part, because I almost completely rewrote it from how I had it in my notebook. I didn't really like how it was going, so I decided to scratch nearly everything out and only barely follow the storyline. I think it turned out great, but I AM sorry if my lengthy description of her room and stuff bores you; one of my friends asked me to include it after looking over my original manuscript because she was curious. The room is modeled after hers, with teal replacing the pink and a few fancy shmancy items added in just cause. The outfit is taken from one I saw at the store a while ago and would have bought if I had found it in my size. So, anyway, enjoy part one of episode two! It's about twice as long as what I had the parts of episode two as. Hope you like! **_

"Oh! No, no, no, that just won't do! You've got to play by _my _rules, and I say that you can't have _her_! Any _other_ girl, fine, but not _her_!" The speaker, a tiny red-head with impossibly dark blue eyes, held a small toy towards the light. It was a blue box, with white letters nearly too small to read. She shook it furiously, then tried to pull open the little door. It stayed firmly shut. "No fair!" She stomped her foot, pouting. She glared at the toy, then paused, her face pinched into a thoughtful gaze. "Ooh, I know! You can just come and play with me! Then I can finally _teach you a lesson_!" Her eyes flared black, her adorable face twisting into a horrible grin that would have frightened the most hard-hearted criminal. She giggled, and swiped a hand across her eyes. When she lowered it again, they were back to their normal color.

She shook the box again, as hard as she possibly could, and slammed it down onto a huge table, between two pink pieces of furniture. She tried once more to yank the door open, growling as it resisted her rough touch and continued to rest in its place in the doorframe. She gave it one last withering glare and turned her back on the table, skipping away. "Mr. Piiiiinkyyyyy!" She trilled, resting a hand gracefully on her own, full-size door. "We've got visitors!" Her voice darkened. "And I think it's time I introduced myself." She slammed the door with an inhuman strength.

On the table, the door to the box creaked open.

oOo

_"__Alice? Alice, darling, it's me! It's all right, sweetie, I've got you… Mummy's got you. You're going to be okay now. The Bad Wolf isn't going to let anything happen to her Little Pup, is she?" _

Alice shot up in bed, clutching the sheets to her chest. Tears were streaming down her face, but she didn't know why. Her head ached, like someone had decided it would be fun to pound it with a sledgehammer. She groaned and fell back against the pillow, her head sinking several inches into the fluffy fabric. She gazed up at the yellowish ceiling and yawned, rolling onto her side.

A picture of her and her best friend rested against an ornate teal lamp the Doctor claimed came from Barcelona- the planet, not the city. Then he had started on about something about dogs with no noses; she'd been too tired from their escapade with the Wire to really worry herself about it. When he'd finally shown her to her room- after insisting on giving her a 'brief' tour of her new home that lasted two hours and led them through random rooms anywhere from a pool to a billiard room with a giant pool table (actually a pool on a table, not the ball and stick kind)- she'd collapsed into the huge bed and dozed off while he droned on about the excellent taste the TARDIS had had in selecting her room. But now that she was awake and rested, more or less, she took a moment to absorb her surroundings.

The bed she was in was huge, with an elaborate black headboard and gorgeous teal sheets made from silk softer than she'd ever felt. (If she'd been paying any attention to his speech last night, the Doctor had probably mentioned them. Who knew, maybe they came from some future planet where silkworms were the size of buses and there were six green suns.) A black side table- also ornately made with the spiraling, swirling design of the bed and lamp- was to her right; her cell phone and small purse, along with the picture, rested on its surface. The lamp shone a soft white light on the room. Across from the bed was a door leading to, she assumed, the hallway, and to her left were two open doors, one revealing a spacious closet and the other a beautiful bathroom. Swirling patterns snuck from the white trim up the teal walls, circling built-in lights and ending at various spots on the walls. A fancy crystal chandelier hung suspended from the ceiling. But certainly her favorite was the giant white beanbag in the right corner across from her, facing a huge flat-screen telly and the white bookcase overflowing with novels next to it. She squealed and jumped out of bed, pillows flying, her feet sinking into the thick carpet. She danced around in the center of her room, laughing.

"Goodbye, dirty old flat, and _hello_ gorgeous new room!" She giggled and clapped, jumping up and down. Her green eyes shone with an excited light.

A soft knock sounded on the door. She swung it open, revealing the Doctor in all of his pinstriped glory. She shrieked again and pulled him into a hug. "I guess you like it, then?" He laughed and put one hesitant arm around her.

"_Like_ it? No, I don't _like _it!" His face fell, and she bounced backwards, falling onto her bed. She spread her arms and pulled a pillow to her chest. "I _love_ it!" She laughed and sat up, the teal and black cushion still pressed to her stomach. "I absolutely, positively _love_ it! It's… it's…it's…" She thought, struggling for a word strong enough to convey her strong feelings.

"Brilliant?" He grinned, his brown eyes twinkling.

"_Yes_!" It's _brilliant_!" She twisted a lock of blonde hair around her finger, her bottom lip pulled into her mouth. "I think I rather like that word, I think I'll use it." She smiled up at him, her tongue caught between her teeth.

His hearts fluttered and he beamed back at her, holding out one thin hand. "Well, Miss Tyler, I guess I'd better give you more reasons to use it!" She laughed and took his outstretched hand, their fingers twining together. He took a half a second to study her hand, chipped pink fingernail polish and all, and looked back at her with gleaming eyes.

She started to pull him out the door, then froze, looking down at herself. "Oi!" She yelped, releasing her grasp on his hand. He wriggled his fingers, missing her warmth, but stuck it in his pocket. "Why didn't you tell me I was still in yesterday's clothes?"

He glanced down, and thought hard. He didn't really pay attention to what his companions- or anyone, for that matter- wore, but he _did_ think he remembered her wearing that particular shirt. But, then again, he couldn't be too sure. He wasn't the first person you'd want to ask for fashion advice. "Er- sorry, I didn't really notice."

She cried out again, pulling his arm and spinning him towards the door. She pressed her hands flat against his back and started pushing him into the hallway. "Out, out, _out_!" I've got to get dressed!" She slammed the door.

He chuckled, leaning against the wall beside her closed door. He heard the lock turn, then a lot of rustling and banging and muffled curses. He knocked lightly on the door. "You all right in there?" Alice yelled back at him, her tone rough and her words even more so. He grinned lopsidedly and rolled his eyes, then the door was swung open and Alice stepped out into the hallway with a glare sent in his direction.

Nope- forget about what he said about not paying attention to what his companions wore. He gave her an approving glance up and down, his gaze especially lingering on her shoes. She'd opted for ones almost identical to his but for the color, teal instead of his red. He suppressed a smile, his eyes moving up her fitted flare jeans and loose black shirt on top of a teal tank top. She'd stuck a black and teal headband between her yellow curls.

She noticed his look and shrugged. "I'm celebrating. I don't _usually_ try to match my room, but…" She rolled her eyes. "It seemed fitting, considering."

"Considering what?"

"You know- new worlds, new room- new me!" She giggled. "_So_ cliché, but whatever."

He laughed and held out a hand. "Well, I think you look brilliant. Ready now?" She blushed and slid her hand into his again, opening her mouth to speak.

A huge tremor shook the TARDIS, throwing the two down the hallway. The Doctor pulled them farther, the TARDIS shrinking the hallway so they emerged in the control room. "Doctor, what's happening?!" Alice fell against a railing and wrapped a hand around it, her feet falling out from under her. He collapsed beside her, coat flapping and eyes twinkling.

"Just a bit of turbulence, I suspect!" He grinned at her and closed one of his hands over hers. "Hold on tight!" There was another violent shake, sending her jacket, which had been lying on the railing she was now clinging to, flying into her face. She pushed it off with a flustered wave of her hand and prepared herself for another tremble.

The TARDIS stilled. The Doctor whooped and pushed himself off the railing and to the consol, his tie skewed. He straightened it and pushed a lever; the blue tubes in the center started moving, making the whooshing noise she'd gotten so used to. She let go of the rail.

Then they went flying through the air again, slamming into each other and clutching for something to hold onto. He grabbed hold of her upper arm and a lever, keeping them both secure. She squeezed her eyes shut, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I hate to break it to you, Doctor, but I don't think it's just a bit of turbulence!" Alice had to yell over the loud crashes and creaking. He shrugged.

The tremendous shaking stopped, and they dropped to the ground with a clang. They exchanged a glance before cautiously letting go of each other. They stared at the walls warily for a moment, then started towards the door with gradually quickening steps. He reached it first and wrapped his fingers around the doorknob. Behind him, the blue tubes stopped moving, and a red light started blinking, unnoticed by the two, on the consol.

"Alice Tyler." He beamed, his face lighting up into the excited expression she'd noticed he got a lot, and usually in totally inappropriate times. However, for once she thought it was _definitely_ an appropriate time. She grinned and bounced on her toes, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. "Welcome to…" He pushed open the door and swept one arm towards the unknown place beyond. She peered out, her face falling. He started to speak again, but she cut him off with a disappointed sigh.

"A _room_?"

"What?" He turned and stared open-mouthed at the bright pink room outside of the TARDIS. "_What_? This isn't Mallen! There are no rooms like this in Mallen! They live in little huts, with straw roofs and mud walls and-" She throws a hand across his lips, her scent wafting into his nose. He sniffed surreptitiously. _Mmmm… Vanilla and roses._ His eyes widened. _She smells like- No!_

"You were going to take me _there_?" She made a face, and he looked up at her, his thoughts interrupted. "You've _got _to be kidding me. _Gross_! Couldn't we at _least_ gone somewhere with indoor plumbing? Or any plumbing at all?" He gave her a miffed look over her hand. She rolled her eyes at him pointedly, a strand of hair falling over her eyes. She blew it away. "Oh, come on, Doctor! Maybe this is better than Mallen, anyway. You never know, it could end up being some weird planet with giant silk worms the size of buses and six green suns!" He raised an eyebrow and she felt his lips twist into a grin beneath her palm.

"Mianph siphk wormph? Simph phreeph sumphs? _Whaph_?" His muffled laughs wafted through the gaps in her fingers. She gave him a dirty look.

"What? For all I know, a planet like that really _does_ exist!" She huffed, giving him an indignant glare. "Back off, alien boy!" It was his turn to roll his eyes.

Behind them, beyond the open door to the TARDIS, someone cleared their throat. Alice and the Doctor started, the former pulling her hand quickly away from the latter's mouth. She blushed and shuffled her feet, looking at the ground. The Doctor grinned sheepishly and tore his gaze from Alice to the one who had cleared his throat, a wizened old man with hardly any hair except for a little splash of white around the ears. Thick white eyebrows rested low on his sunken brown eyes, and his mouth was turned down into a bored scowl. A bright pink platter rested on one upturned hand.

"Will Miss Tyler and the Doctor be stopping their… _antics_… and exiting the TARDIS now?" He said, his voice a low, disapproving rumble. Alice's blush deepened. The tall man beside her raised an eyebrow inquisitively, but put a hand in the small of her back and led her out, the other hand snaking behind them and closing the doors tightly. She glanced up at him and he winked, lowering his head to her level long enough to whisper _'One can never be too careful.'_ Before straightening back up to his high level and removing his hand from her back. The old man watched them reproachfully, his face devoid of emotion. She would have thought him completely lacking in that particular area if his eyes had not given away so much of what he was thinking. She could only imagine what the Doctor, with his unusual ability to easily read people and sense what they felt, could see in those dark eyes. If she was being completely honest, she didn't really want to know.

Instead of dwelling on the old man, she gazed around at where the TARDIS had landed. Like the little snippet of color she'd gotten earlier, the room was entirely pink; the furniture, the carpet, the walls… even the light had a pinkish tint. The unchanging (and, frankly, unappealing) color scheme was tiring, and she resolved to never own a pink piece of furniture again, already planning how to replace her pink desk at home. Well, at her flat in London; the TARDIS already practically felt like her home. The thought pleased her, and she glanced back at the little blue box with a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, missing the entrance of a little girl.

"Welcome, Alice and the Doctor- and the TARDIS- to Satellite Five!" They both jumped and turned to the small female with surprised looks, the Doctor's tinged with horror. The redhead smiled, but it was a dreadfully sweet grin that could've curdled milk. Her dark blue eyes stared coldly into theirs, and her tiny hands played with the hem of her pink dress. The color clashed horribly with her flaming hair.

Alice opened her mouth to comment on her knowing their names, but the Doctor beat her to it, his dismayed voice filling the silence that had blanketed the room after her appearance.

"_Satellite Five_?" He said, giving her a sharp look. "Hold on, did you say _Satellite Five_?" Alice glanced at him, worried. His face was filled with unrelenting horror.

_**Anybody else totally excited about the location? When I originally came up for the idea for this fanfiction and kinda-sorta plotted out the first two episodes, this was on some weird moon-ship orbiting Earth, but as it developed and new information was revealed, it seemed more appropriate for them to be in this... historic... site. I mean, come on, it's in TWO episodes, one where Rose nearly loses her Doctor (and kinda does, in a way)! Anyway, when you read a little tidbit of info I have coming your way, you're going to understand why I based it on Satellite Five.**_

_**Well, I'd like to take a moment to answer some recurring questions I've gotten from the few people I've let read the original episodes. That way, when and if you think the same questions, they'll be answered for you. "How old is Alice?" I don't really have a specific age planned, but in my mind, she's around the same age Rose was when she met the Doctor, though a little younger. Somewhere between 19 and 21, though I'm leaning more towards the first. "Do the Doctor and Alice ever get together?" That's for me to know, and you to find out! "Why does Alice have the same last name as Rose?" Welllll, I don't want to give anything away right now, but if you've been reading VERRRRRY carefully, you probably already know! If you HAVEN'T already figured it out, go read the first paragraph again. And don't spoil it for anyone else who's a little less insightful than you! **_

_**Love you all!**_

_**~CTST**_


	9. Episode Two: Dolls of the Devil Part Two

_**Yup, part two! This episode is a whole lot more descriptive with clothes and surroundings and things, but I still manage to fit in some adventure between the 'junk'! I reallyyyy like this part, mostly because it's super fluffy and adorable, and it was a lot of fun to write! Tell me if you like it as much as I do!**_

"No, no, this is not good. _Very_ not good. Very, very, very, very, _very_-" He paced back and forth between the TARDIS and one neon pink couch, lost in his thoughts. His eyebrows were low over stormy brown eyes, and when a lock of hair fell onto his forehead, he was too absorbed in whatever he was thinking to notice. Alice couldn't be sure, but she thought she even saw a little tear forming in the corner of his eyes.

"Yes, Doctor, we get it! Very bad. Opposite of good. Extremely terrible, etc. It's just… _how_ is this very bad?" Alice shot an arm out, grabbing his forearm with one hand and pulling him back to her side. He turned his conflicted brown eyes to her, and she met his gaze with concern in her own. "Doctor, why is it so bad?"

"I-I've been here before. Twice, actually. Both times, it was broadcasting telly shows, and both times I nearly lost… someone important to me." His face turned absolutely livid and he got up in the old man's face. "I'm _not_ going to lose someone like that again! You understand me? Not _ever_ again!" He snarled, his eyes burning, and shook off Alice's hand. She frowned, feeling rejected. "So you go up to whoever is in charge here, and you tell them… you tell them that I. am. _Leaving_!" He spun around and started to open the TARDIS door.

"Actually, Doctor," For the second time in a few minutes, Alice turned to the short girl with a surprised expression. "_I'm_ the one in charge. And, sorry, but I don't think I'm going to let you _'leave'_." She wiggled her fingers. "Yes, actually, I think I'm going to have to say… _no_. You _can't_ leave." She gave him a sickeningly sweet smile. "Mr. Pinky, don't you think you should be going to get us some tea?" The old man bowed and left, his face still scrunched into a sour expression. She smoothed her skirt and tucked a lock of red hair behind her ear.

"How… do… you… know… my… _name_?" He hissed through clenched teeth, glaring at her. Alice took a step closer to him again, and was glad he didn't move away this time. She threaded an arm through his, her hands trembling.

"Doctor," She whispered into his ear, standing up on her tiptoes. "Why is it everyone seems to know who you are? And why do they _always_ want to kill you?" He raised an eyebrow but didn't answer.

The little girl laughed, a bell-like sound that was so cute and innocent it made Alice's skin crawl. "Oh, you're so silly! I know _everyone_, you're no one especially unique!" She held up an outstretched hand. "I know _you_," She put down her thumb. "I know _Alice_," The aforementioned woman jumped and she put down her pointer finger. "I know Sally Sparrow," She rolled her middle finger into her palm, and the Doctor gave Alice a confused look. "I know Amy Pond," Another finger, another baffled glance. "And, most of all, I know Rose." The last finger went down, leaving her with a tiny fist, and Alice felt the Doctor stiffen beside her. She recognized the name- it was what the Wire had called her (multiple times, unfortunately), but for once someone seemed to know that they weren't the same person. She put a calming hand on his arm and he relaxed, if only for a moment. She smiled to herself and leaned her head on his shoulder, then seemed to realize what she was doing and quickly moved it, blushing furiously. "But, that doesn't matter! What _matters_ is that you're here, and now we can play!"

She skipped right up to them and pushed between the two, grabbing their hands and pulling them towards the door. She turned her head and gave them a serious look, her face stony. "I'm Kitten, by the way. So now we all know each other, and you can't complain about us not having equal information!" She gave him a withering look and tilted her head. "Well, I suppose I still have more information than you, but that can't be helped." She smiled and yanked them more insistently to the doorway. "Now, hurry up! We haven't got all day, you know!" She paused. "Well, actually, we kind of have." She smirked, her teeth and the whites of her eyes shining awfully in the unnaturally colored light.

oOo

Alice turned, putting her side to the full-length mirror. She pulled self-consciously on the hem of her dress, wishing that it was just a bit longer, at _least_ to mid-way up her thigh. The dress was, of course, pink; it was a weird shade, though, and made her pale skin look unearthly white. It was an interesting design, she'd give it that, but she much preferred her jeans and t-shirt. The skirt only barely covered her bum- or, at least, it seemed that way to her- and twirled up into a thick black sash that tied into a bow on her hip. From there, the fabric tightened around her torso, snaking up her skin until it got to just above her chest. Her shoulders and neck were bare, but the material reached across one of her arms and down to her hand, coming to a point on the top knuckle on her middle finger. Kitten had insisted she wear heels, but she'd at least gotten away from the impossibly high pink strappy pair the little girl had chosen and picked out short black pumps. She gave the mirror one last embarrassed look, loath to go outside and let the Doctor see her in such a deplorable outfit.

There was a soft knock on her door. She flushed and threw one hand across her chest, the other flying to the bottom of her dress. She would know that knock anywhere- even _if _she'd only heard it twice. "Y-yes?" She called, heat rising to her cheeks. The Doctor slowly inched open the door and stuck his head in, one eye squeezed shut.

"Are you dece-" His jaw dropped, and he opened his other eye, blinking. She blushed.

"I know, I know, it's dreadful! I didn't pick it out, Kitten insisted I wear it…" She trailed off, ducking her head in total mortification.

He opened and closed his mouth, but her expression stopped him from speaking, the words caught in his throat. A blonde curl fell into her eyes, and she turned her head away from him, her porcelain cheeks red. His hearts hammered painfully, and he felt his own blush staining his cheeks. "You- you look…" He coughed. "You look beautiful." Her head shot up, and she stared at him with wide eyes. Her lips twitched, then she broke into a huge smile. She raced across the ground (as fast as she could in heels, at least) and sailed into his arms, nearly knocking him onto the floor. She giggled in his ear.

"You're too sweet!" She laughed, squealing as he spun her and set her unsteadily on her feet. "Thank you, though! Even _if_ I know it's not true!" He rolled his eyes, and she gave him a tongue-in-teeth grin. "You know, I still don't know why Kitten made _me_ change, but not you." She frowned. "_Not_ fair. I have to wear a skirt, and you get to stay in your slacks! It's like the 1940s all over again!"

He laughed and took her hand, walking her down the hall. She clutched his arm tightly, stumbling along after him. "Trust me, those were fun!"

She gave him a sharp look. "The 1940s?" He nodded, and she laughed. "Yeah, right! How would _you_ know?"

He squeezed her hand. "_Hellooo_? Time-and-space traveler? Don't tell me you've already forgotten!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. _Still_ think you're joshing me."

He thought, then pulled her to a closed window. "What if I can prove it?"

"Do it!"

"Close your eyes." She did. There was the buzzing of his sonic screwdriver, then a rustling. His hand slipped out of her and she felt his warmth leave her side. A moment later, he was behind her, slipping his hands over her eyes. "You ready?" She nodded. "Then… open!" He pulled his hands away from her face and she opened her eyes, blinking in the suddenly brighter light. She squinted out the window, then gasped.

A huge blue and green sphere stretched out beyond the window, farther than her eyes could trace. She pressed against the window, her breath smudging the glass. She gazed outside for a few unbroken seconds, held mesmerized by the majesty of her planet, then she breathed, "Earth… Oh my God, _Earth_! That's _really_, _truly_, _actually_ Earth!" He laughed and slipped an arm over her shoulders.

"Do you like it, Alice? A whole planet, sitting in space, just _waiting_ for you and I to go explore it. Isn't it _brilliant_?"

She turned her body so it was facing him. Her eyes sparkled with a bright green hue, and a dreamy smile crossed her features. "_Yes_… Oh, Doctor, I can't _wait_!" She beamed up at him. "We're going to be brilliant!" He chuckled and returned his hand to her grasp, pulling her down the hallway once more.

oOo

Kitten sat alone at the head of a table set for at least thirty, possibly even more. A glass of some type of clear liquid and a plate of steaming food sat in front of her, untouched. She stared at the centerpiece of the table, a vase of enormous pink flowers and vines that snaked across the tablecloth, with an unreadable gaze. When she heard them come in, her eyes lifted to them and she broke out in a devilish grin. "Ah, Mr. Pinky, here come our guests!" The old man emerged from a dark corner of the room, where he had stood unnoticed. "Get them their plates- dinner can begin now they're here!" He bowed and exited through a different door than the one they'd come from.

Alice and the Doctor sat cautiously at places many seats away from Kitten; she pouted momentarily but didn't comment. Mr. Pinky returned with two heaping plates and then with two glasses, filling them with the same clear liquid as Kitten's. Alice took a hesitant sip and found the taste unusual but delicious, like old books and some strange taste that made her think of golden sunlight wafting into a library. She hummed in her throat, loving the taste already (it reminded her of something, but she couldn't quite but her finger on it…) and took a bite of an unknown purple vegetable, finding that it tasted, curiously, like fresh-picked strawberries with the dew of morning still fresh on their skin; the brownish meat tasted like the strongest, most flavorful steak she'd ever had. The Doctor was more tentative in trying the meal, but the delicious smell of the drink caused him to waver. He took a sip; vanilla and roses splashed over his taste buds. His eyes barely widened, and he quickly sat the glass back down. Alice finished her drink and asked for more; he wanted to warn her about what it was, but Kitten's uncanny smile made him falter. He gave his companion one last worried glance and put his mind on the red-headed little girl.

"So, Kitten, it was very kind of you to let us stay, but I'm afraid that we have a _very _important appointment that we simply _must_ make. We'll be out of your hair as soon as this… delicious… meal is over." He smiled uneasily, still itching to rip the glass out of Alice's hands and rush her back into the TARDIS. The girl in mention raised her eyes briefly to his, and he saw the drug in the drink already starting to cloud her vision. His adrenaline kicked in.

The smaller girl giggled. "Oh, that's all right! You can go!"

He sighed in relief and took the drink from Alice's fingers, setting it on the table. She gave him a pouty look and reached for it; he clutched her hands in his to keep her from grabbing it. She whimpered and glared at their entwined hands. "Brilliant! I suppose we'll be going now, so we can be sure to make it time…" He trailed off as Alice sniffed his shoulder quizzically. Her drug-misted eyes widened and she rubbed her cheek happily on his arm. He blushed, wishing she would go back to normal. Kitten snarled, and he glanced back up to her, surprised. Her face was twisted into an angry expression.

"No, I said _you_ could go. _She_," She inclined her head to the purring woman on his shoulder. He shrugged her off and she fell into his lap, dozing off almost instantly. "Stays with me." His hearts fell, and he stared down at the sleeping blonde, then glared at Kitten.

"That's not an option. We _both_ go, or none at all. I'm not leaving her here."

She sighed romantically, resting her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands. "Well, that's just too bad… Cause you are." She returned his glare, and he could have sworn her eyes flared black for an instant. "You have no choice in the matter. Either leave… or I'll destroy your TARDIS." She smiles, the horrible smirk not reaching her cold, dark eyes. He'd never seen a little girl look so utterly terrifying. "Your choice, Doctor. The girl you just met, or the life-long companion you've had by your side for centuries." He gritted his teeth, feeling a dark stirring in his stomach. He wasn't going to let her do anything to the TARDIS… and _definitely _not his Alice. Wait… _his_ Alice? He shook his head, trying to clear it. Kitten took that time to stand and cross to the door, calling for Mr. Pinky. He appeared by her side, and her dark tone drifted to the Doctor. "I'll just have to make that decision for you, I guess. Say goodbye to your beloved _toy_, Doctor!" She glanced up at the old man. "Keep them here. I don't want anyone-" She glared towards the table. "Interfering with my… work." She exited, slamming the door behind her. Mr. Pinky stationed himself in front of it with his arms crossed, the other doors in the room fading back into the wall.

The Doctor cursed in his own language and turned his back on the door, silently sending a heart-felt _sorry, love_ to his ship. A quiet, sad whirring echoed through the building, and he straightened, feeling more alone than he had before as the TARDIS faded into the Time Vortex to wait for her thief and protect herself. An angry scream ripped through Satellite Five, and he let a faint smile flutter across his lips.

The scream had woken Alice, and she stirred on the Doctor's lap, stretching. She yawned and her eyes quiver, slowly opening to reveal her green eyes. She blinked slowly, a confused twist to her lips, then her eyes shoot all the way open and she tumbles out of his lap and onto the ground. She gawked at him from the ground, her feet curled under her bum and her hair crumpled from being pressed against his legs. As he watches, the last of the drug-induced haze leaves her eyes and she blinks, gaze sharpening.

"Wha- what _happened_?" He doesn't answer, and she glares at him for a half second before remembering. She flushes and coughs, hiding her face under a curtain of hair. "Sorry," She mumbles, her voice a whisper. He stifles a laugh.

"Not your fault. Kitten put a… erm… a drug in your drink." He quickly decides _not_ to reveal the nature of the drug to her, knowing how mortified it would make her feel. He glanced at her and didn't fail to notice how scarlet her cheeks were- yeah, telling her exactly _what_ the drug did would _not_ end well… for either of them. He gave her a reassuring grin and held a hand towards her. "Allons-y, Alice!" He paused. "Not as good as Alonso, but it will certainly do…" She glanced up at him, a smile ghosting over her lips.

"Sorry, what?" She placed one pale hand on his offered one and he pulls her up, standing as he does so. They stand chest-to-chest for a moment before she took a step backwards, nearly tripping over her heels. He instinctively reaches for her, looping an arm around her waist as she grabs the back of a chair. He quickly releases her.

He cleared his throat. "Oh, er, nothing. Just something… nevermind." He ran a hand through his ruffled hair and peeked at Mr. Pinky over her shoulder, lowering his voice though the old man stares impassively forward like a wrinkled robot. "You up for an adventure, Alice?" Her eyes lit up and she nodded enthusiastically. "First things first… distract the old man." His mind whirs, coming up with at least twenty different solutions within a second.

But, unfortunately, it seems Alice has thought quickly as well. She turns away from him and takes strides towards Mr. Pinky, flipping her hair over her shoulder and walking with a slight wriggle to her hips. He took a moment to admire the view, then realized what she- and he- are thinking, and ran forward to snatch her back. She fell against him, looking up at him, and gave him a glare. "_What_?" She said, indignant. "You _said_ distract him!"

He choked, his eyes wide."_Alice_!" He hissed. "That's _not_ what I meant!"

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She glowered at him. "Are you saying it wouldn't have worked?" He choked again, his eyes practically bulging out of his head. She laughed and pushed herself upright. "_Josh_ing! So, how're we going to distract this guy, if you won't use _my _methods?" She raises an eyebrow, smirking.

He ignored her and pulled out his sonic screwdriver, spinning the different parts. "Well, if I can find out where he comes from, I can figure out his weakness…" He twisted the sonic one more time, and Mr. Pinky explodes behind them, metal flying away from his shattered body. A charred spot on the floor is all that shows where he'd been standing moments before. Beyond his demolished form lies the door, unobstructed. They grin at each other. "Well, that was unexpected."

_**You like? I'm probably not going to tell anyone what the drug was in my story, but if you ask in your review or in a private message or something I'll tell you, okay? MIGHT tell ya in ANOTHER episode, I'm considering using the drug again. Maybe next time Alice will be smart enough to stop drinking! **_

_**Anyway, keep those reviews rolling in! Thanks to Aksolio-fricai and buckmazhou for being my first- and so far only- two reviewers! I appreciate it! **_

_**~CTST**_


	10. Episode Two: Dolls of the Devil Part 3

_**Here's part three... finally! I fell soooo guilty that it took so long, but the past few weeks have been HELL and I haven't had as much time to write as I would've liked. That's one reason why the chapter is so short- but it's also because it was hard for me to write such a raw, emotional part of the series. I could practically FEEL their emotions as I planned out and wrote this chapter, but couldn't quite find the right words for the emotional roller coaster I'd strapped them onto. Since the content SURROUNDING the little excerpt was so much different from how I originally had it, it had to be changed drastically as well. I'm still not sure how I feel about that... Anyway, tell me what you think!**_

The Doctor took a wary glance around the corner and waved for Alice, strolling out into the hallway. She peeked around the spot he had been before with shifting eyes, rolling around the wall and pressing her body against the wall with her arms outstretched. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. His lips were raised in an amused smirk, his hands tucked into his pockets. She blushed and shrugged, leaving the wall and standing beside him with a self-conscious expression. He stared down at her with laughing brown eyes, and she shrugged. "What? It always looked like fun in the films!" He chuckled to himself. She gave him a look of extreme annoyance and strode off down the hall, her chin raised haughtily. The overall effect was somewhat diminished when she tripped on her heel and stumbled forward. She cursed, kicking the blasphemous objects off of her feet. She looked back at him for a second, not missing his entertained expression, and turned her back on him again.

Eventually they reached a locked door; he stepped in front of her and quickly unlocked it with his sonic screwdriver. Irritated though she was at the moment, the noise still sent the thrill of adventure coursing through her, giving her an urge to forget her cumbersome dress and _run_, his hand in hers and their throats bubbling with laughter. She cast him a look, drinking in the sight of him crouched over the doorknob with tousled hair and a concentrating expression, then blushed scarlet and returned her eyes to the door as it swung open. The Doctor crowed happily and bounded through the doorway into a dark hall. After a moment of hesitation, she followed him, lightly placing her feet so as not to inadvertently hurt her exposed flesh.

They continued through the dark hall with only the soft blue light of his sonic to guide them until they reached a larger room, at the end of which stood a pair of solitary lifts, rusted and contorted. It took both of them pushing to clear one folded door away from the treasure inside, and by some miracle the lift rested inside. She squealed and clapped her hands, not knowing exactly what was going on but sure that it would bring a great adventure for her. She took a sure step inside, turning to face the Doctor.

He lingered behind for a moment, the sonic screwdriver held up in the air. His face was raised to something above the lifts, and after a quick flick across whatever was there with his eyes, his expression crumpled and he closed his eyes in pain. Alice could only barely make out his face, and couldn't see the horrible emotion plastered on his features, but his hurt seemed to radiate across the thin bond they'd formed in the short time she'd known him. She shuddered, and moved to wrap her arms around his thin frame, but in the short time it'd taken her to shift he'd steeled himself and entered the lift with her, holding the sonic against the lift buttons. He turned to her, a grin pasted on his face though his eyes still held pain, and held out his free hand. She accepted it, entwining her fingers in his and squeezing.

"So, Alice," He said, his voice unwavering despite his obviously unhappy visage. "You _may _want to hold on tight." She gave his a sideways glance but gripped the rail along the side of the lift with one hand, the other still wrapped in the Doctor's. He held the sonic closer to the button panel; with a screech and a halting movement, they started upwards, gaining speed. They reached a pause, then shot upwards with an unbelievable speed. Eyes streaming uncontrollably, Alice tucked her face into the Doctor's shoulder as he whooped and laughed manically. He counted off numbers as the button panel dinged, until he was well up into the two hundreds and it dinged too quickly for him to follow. Alice shrieked and pressed herself closer to him, her bare legs freezing from the frigid air that whooshed past. He cackled and pressed a kiss against her forehead, surprising her. She tensed, then smiled into his shoulder and clenched her eyes shut.

The lift ground to a halt. Her skirt swirled up for a moment, and she pressed it down, self-consciously aware of the Doctor beside her, though his eyes were all on the lightly glowing button beside the empty doorway. His face was a mixture of conflicting emotions, almost too many for her to even comprehend. He swallowed hard and brushed his fingertips against the button. His chin wavered for a short second, then he set his jaw and sharply turned his head away from the button. Alice glanced at the little knob, curious as to how such a tiny number could nearly bring the Doctor to tears. 500, the button read, with peeling letters that were only barely discernible from the light behind them. She thought it reminded her of something, but when she couldn't remember exactly what she shrugged and slipped a hand into her companion's, forgetting about her curiosity in an instant.

"So, Doctor," She smiled up at him, her tongue peeking out from between her teeth. He jerked his face to her, looking like he'd completely forgotten about her being there with him. If it'd been at any other time, this probably would have pissed her off, but seeing what a delicate state he was in, she ignored his lapse, instead focusing on the wavering, but genuine, grin he directed at her. "Are we going to get off this creaky old lift and go exploring, or what?" She tried to put an annoying amount of tease in her tone, to distract him from whatever dark corners his mind had fled to. It worked; he gave her an amused half-smile, one eyebrow raised, and rolled his chocolaty eyes.

"Wellllll…" He paused, raising a hand to his hair and yanking on his earlobe with a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. He let his silence carry on just long enough to be awkward, then shrugged, breaking out into a blindingly bright beam. "If you put it that way… I suppose we've got to!" She whooped and started to pad out of the lift on her toes, but he snatched the back of her dress, pulling her backwards into him. She yelped and blushed, her neck heating not unpleasantly. Then she had to shove off of his lank form for decency's sake, giving him a (very, _very_ fake) frustrated glare. He raised his hands. "I think I should go first!" She narrowed her eyes, not having to fake this time. "What? Don't give me that look… You never know! There might be booby traps or something!"

She rolled her eyes, exasperated. "This isn't some sci-fi show, Doctor, there aren't-"He ignored her, taking a giant step (though for him it wasn't all that giant) over the threshold of the lift and into the hallway. "-any booby-" She froze mid-sentence, a cry tearing from her lips as a surge of white-hot electricity pulsed from the floor into his legs, sending him sprawling across the ground, unconscious or dead she didn't know. She rushed forward to grab him and smashed into an invisible barrier, crumpling against it. Her head hit it hard enough to split, blood dripping from a tiny cut on her forehead, above her eye. She didn't even notice the slight pain, so focused was she on the Doctor's body. Tears streamed down her face, mixing with crimson blood and falling off her chin onto her dress. She banged her fists against the glass, her arms soon aching from the fruitless effort. A sob escaped her and she let her hands fall into her lap, leaning the uninjured side of her forehead on the glass. Her whole being trembled; she cried like she'd never cried before, though she'd only known this man, this man now slumped on the ground in front of her like a morbid doll, for little over a day. Her eyes were riveted to him, swimming with shed and unshed tears. She punched the invisible wall once more, half-heartedly, then closed her eyes and bowed her head, her golden hair falling in front of her face in curls. She cried for what seemed like hours, until she was gasping for breath. Her heart felt like it'd been wrenched out of her chest and broken into tiny little pieces, tiny little pieces on the other side of the wall that wasn't even there. She slammed her hands onto the ground, cursing everyone and everything, curling her fingers into her palms and pressing until her sorrow had dissipated enough for pain to show through.

But, worst of all, was the pressure.

A terrible, burning pressure had begun to push against her temples, light at first but slowly gaining. At first, she just thought it was a migraine from all of the crying, but it soon turned into a pain like none she'd ever felt before. She couldn't even think clearly for the pain, tears falling anew from her clenched eyes as she desperately projected her thoughts, on accident, towards the nearest living thing in the room: the Doctor.

On the other side of the barrier, he stirred, thoughts that weren't his own bombarding his mind. _Please… Oh, please, make it stop! Oh, God, It hurts! Please! It hurts…_ A wave of unbearable pain swept across the link from which the distressed thoughts came, momentarily crippling his mind. Then the pain was over, just moments after it began, and the same voice was projected into his mind again. _Please! Help, oh, please help me! Make it stop! I-I can't- PLEASE! DOCTOR! DOCTOR, PLEASE!_ He started, pushing his arms under his body and pushing himself up with shaking hands. He looked around, but his vision was too blurry and spotted for him to see much more than vague colors. He blinked and pushed himself onto his hands and knees. _Doctor… Doctor… Doctor! Please! Doctor, TARDIS, Mum, SOMEONE! Please help me, it hurts! _His mind reached out to the plaintive voice, gently sending a comforting feeling across the thin link. **_I'm coming_**_. _He said to the consciousness. **_It's all right, the Doctor is here._** The frantic thoughts from the other being slowly trickled to a stop, the link dwindling. Before he was left completely alone in his head, one last whimpering call reached him: _Doctor… I'm sorry._ Then the voice was gone. The voice he knew… The voice of a girl just a foot away from him.

He whipped his head up, staring wide-eyed across the floor to the lift he'd practically just stepped out of, though he had no idea how long he'd been unconscious and could well have been there for days. Alice was curled up against an invisible wall, sweat standing out against her pale- even for her- skin, her body shaking uncontrollably. Her hands were curled into tight fists, and when her trembling caused her hand to shift slightly he could see that her nails had left little pink crescents in her palm. Her bottom lip was pulled into her mouth, savaged by her clenched teeth. Her eyes- her beautiful, full green eyes that made his hearts melt and had had him twisted around her little finger in an instant- were squeezed shut, salty tears streaming from them and down her quivering face. He gasped and tried to jump up and to her aide; his feet couldn't quite hold him and he crumpled to the floor, unable to reach out and pull her into his arms like he wanted to. Oh, how he wanted to. He wanted to clutch her to him and comfort her and never let go, never let anyone hurt his precious Alice Tyler ever again. She was too fragile, too innocent, too beautiful… He never should have asked her to join him on the TARDIS, his life was too dangerous for such a delicate creature. He regretted it with all of his might, wished someone had been there to stop him from ruining her like he'd ruined everyone else.

Then a tortured scream escaped the bubble Alice was confined in, shattering his thoughts. His hearts ached, his inner voice yelling for him to help her, and he dragged himself to the invisible wall. He pressed a hand towards her, closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to see his fingers fall short of their mark.

Instead he felt warmth.

His eyes flew open, gasping as his hand closed around her arm. Without warning, she slumped over onto his lap with a _whumph_, her eyes fluttering. He was briefly reminded of earlier, when the drug had knocked her out, then concern pushed the thought away and he pulled her closer. He folded his legs underneath himself and slowly pushed himself onto his feet, his legs threatening to fall out from under him again before he regained his balance and shifted Alice in his arms, taking a step further into the hallway.

oOo

The Doctor was reminded yet again of the last two times he'd come to this cursed place as he peeked around a corner. The rows of computers were gone, replaced with reddish stone spikes that reached up from the ground or down from the tall ceiling. He couldn't quite see the raised platform he remembered, but that didn't matter to him anyway, riveted as he was on the decorations.

Floor to ceiling murals spotted the walls, lit with specifically placed lights. The first held his gaze for the longest- it was Rose Tyler swinging on a wire towards a plastic dummy. His past self, his ninth reincarnation, stared up at her with surprise written in his icy blue eyes. Her face was twisted into an expression of extreme concentration and something else, something bright and _alive_. It was the same look Alice had had on her face when they'd ran from the dining hall.

He barely skimmed over the next few, passing over his past with Rose like he was simply comparing unimportant items at an auction, when in reality the scenes pinched at his soul. He paused when he got to the one of him regenerating into the body he wore now, staring with watery eyes at Rose's confused and slightly scared face. He glanced down at the unconscious girl in his arms, comparing her to Rose, and mentally filed away the similarities before returning his gaze to the pictures.

He reached a picture of Rose crying on a beach in front of a shimmery figured of him, and half expected the pictures to end, or to show his last adventure with the redhead, Donna. Instead, he was surprised that the pictures showed a more detailed, more complex story. His eyes flicked across the pictures and his mouth fell open. **_What?!_**

He heard a cackling laugh behind him and spun around, clutching Alice to his chest. "Kitten," He growled, glaring at the tiny child. "How could you?"

_**Did you like? Sorry if the crazy-wild emotions were too much for you, but it had to happen for the rest of the series to even remotely make sense! R & R!**_

_**~CTST**_


	11. Episode Two: Dolls of the Devil Part 4

_**Here we are... The SECOND-TO-LAST chapter of episode two! It's fairly short, sorry about that, but I wanted to leave you on edge. ;P**_

The Doctor struggled against the ropes binding him to the rusting pole, towards the squirming and screaming Alice. Her face was contorted into the most horribly painful grimace he'd ever seen, yet somehow it made her seem all the more beautiful and fragile, despite her sweaty hair and fluttering eyelids. Her hands were clutched tight to her heaving chest, tears drawing tracks on her cheeks, and her legs curled up to her stomach. She let out another terrible, hearts-wrenching scream filled with such agony and fear that he can feel it down to his very core. He wrenched his wrists: fighting, struggling, _aching_ to get to the girl in front of him. But he can only watch, torn, as Kitten leans down over her and giggles.

Somehow, though he has no idea as to exactly what that how is, she changed into one of the most atrocious creatures he has ever had the misfortune to lay eyes on. Her flaming red hair was pushed apart by two curling goat horns that twist over her ears; her pink dress was ripped by grotesque muscles protruding from her darkened skin; her shoes have been completely removed to make room for enormous and horrible clawed feet with bulging veins; a long, scaly tail split the back of her dress; and her lips part ever so often for a scarlet, forked tongue to whip out and taste the air. Most horrible of it all, the thing that most makes his skin crawl and his eyes to widen in worry and fear for his young companion, is her eyes- all of them, pupils and irises and the whites, has turned to a deep, soulless black, making it impossible for him to even tell where she looks except for where her head is facing and how low her eyelids are. And at the moment, her face is turned down, to the trembling girl on the floor.

"Doctor," Her tongue flicked out of her mouth, the corners of her mouth turning up. "How… doesss it feel to have everything you know torn to ssshredsss? Not knowing anything about the girl you thought you knew ssso well?" Her head raised briefly, and those awful eyes stared into his. He shuddered involuntarily. "Would you like to know what thisss girl really isss-" She's interrupted by an agonizing scream from Alice, who twists and hollers on the floor. She frowned and flicked her tongue, kicking Alice in the side. When this does not shut the quivering woman up, she let loose a long stream of curses even he didn't know existed and turned on her heel, marching up the tall steps he'd been ignoring for Alice's sake. At the top, he can just make out a huge table dotted with small humanoid figurines. They almost look like _dolls_. He sat straighter and craned his head, squinting up as Kitten climbs higher and higher. She reached the top and threw her arm across the table, squeezing one of the dolls (because, of course, that's what they were) in her tiny fist so tightly that even from that distance he can see her muscles straining. Alice's eyes open with a snap, revealing green and gold light shining in her irises. She stopped screaming, hands scrambling at her throat. Her legs kicked at the ground, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. He hollered and strained for her, the ropes cutting into his flesh. Kitten lifted her hand, Alice lifting into the air as well, and shook violently; Alice's body quaked and her eyes rolled back in her head. Kitten released her prisoner, giving him a brief glimpse of blonde hair hurtling back down onto the tabletop, and his companion sunk to the ground, unconscious. He heaved towards her again as Kitten descended, kicking the limp blonde before squatting in front of the Doctor.

"You're a clever man, Doctor," Kitten said, grinning. He doesn't fail to notice that her red tongue has shrunk back to normal, making it many times easier for her to taunt him. "Surely you noticed my little hint? My tiny wee way of saying, 'Stay the hell away, Doctor, this one's not yours'?" He stares at her, confused. "Oh, come on now, her last name? There aren't that many blonde Tylers in London- believe me, I'd know- and one that had vague memories (or something like that) of you? The chances were slim to nothing. So why couldn't you leave her be, Doctor? Could you not consider the fact that she was better off as she was: no memories of before she was ten years old, no parents or any other family to speak of, no Doctor or TARDIS or time and space travel? Because she was, Doctor. Alice Tyler was _better_ without you- because I made sure of it."

He glared at her and opened his mouth to speak, but her tails whipped around her body and pressed against his mouth. He leaned away from its scaly touch, repulsed. "Uh, uh, uh! Did I say you could speak?" Her tail lowered. "Now, Doctor, for once in your life, _listen to someone other than yourself_! Because I've got an interesting tale to tell- and you're not going to interrupt me!"

She paced in front of him, her tail thumping up and down against the ground. "Quite a few years ago, you and a certain companion of yours got stuck on an impossible planet with an impossible being. Somehow you escaped this being and got away from this planet, spiraling away from danger in your fantastic little box with your favorite blonde by your side, ready for more adventures." She narrowed her eyes. "But I'll come to _that _later.

"While you destroyed the physical part of the being on that planet, the mental part escaped using Toby. When Toby died, hurtled into the black hole, half of the mental part died with him- but the other half hid away inside the engine of the spaceship, flying away to Earth. When it finally got there, it reached out for the nearest compatible life source- a little girl named Lorelei. It took over Lorelei's body, binding with her to create a whole new creature- me! Using the limited power available to me in my reduced state, I enslaved a human to use as my servant and took over a spaceship, flying into space and searching for the best place to make my home. Thus I found this place- Satellite Five. Little did I know the amazing history to it… As Kitten- half devil and half human girl- I retained a certain fondness for the little dolls she'd made of her friends and family. I used the devil's power and Lorelei's humanity to create a double of _every_ human on Earth, past and present and future, using these dolls to control the lives of every _single_ one. But soon I noticed something very weird: aliens were popping up all over my duplicate world! Every alien that interacted with a human… I gained power over. _Including_ you. _Especially_ you! I watched _you_ closely, and was astonished to see that you could pop in and out of different realities. I saw you leave Mickey behind, I saw Rose disappear into that same world… and I saw a likeness of her appear, in Torchwood Tower, nine years _before_ Rose even met you." He glanced up at her, incredulous. His mind whirred, flashing though insane possibilities. "I brought the girl here and took her memories, sorting through them to try and figure out exactly who she was. What I found was _impossible_- but, of course, when it comes to you, there's really no such thing, is there?" He couldn't decide if that was a compliment or not, so decided to just take it as one and call it a day.

"The tiny ten-year-old was Alice Jacqueline Tyler, daughter of Rose Marion Tyler and native of a parallel universe. The _very_ parallel universe your companion got _sucked _into nine years later. But the strangest thing about her?" She grinned, her sharpened teeth gleaming in the dim light. "The strangest thing… is that _she has no father_!" He felt an odd emotion in the pit of his stomach, a weird swooping feeling that he couldn't really name. Was it- _relief_? Was he actually_ glad_ that Rose never fell in love; never had a child with another man? He sickened himself. And to top it all off: he was actually going so far as to _travel_ with the woman he'd fallen in love with's _daughter_?! He smirked half-heartedly. And to think that just a little while ago he was telling Torchwood not to tell anyone he'd been travelling with Jackie…He pulled himself out of his musing and glared up at Kitten, not willing to give up his façade of anger and cool headedness for a little bit of curiosity. Luckily it seemed he didn't have to ask anyway, for Kitten was more than willing to share her knowledge, in order to hold what she knew and he didn't over his head.

"Now _how_, you might ask, does she even exist if she didn't have a father? The answer was even more confusing than anything even _you_ could think of, but also somehow very obvious-" The Doctor snorted. She gave him a frustrated frown. "What is so _funny_?"

He rolled his eyes. "You forget, Kitten- er, whatever you are- that I am _completely_ brilliant." She glowered at him. "Of _course_ it's obvious! I knew _exactly_ what she was the moment you started talking, and all you've done is made it easier for me to solidify my idea into a reality." He beamed, his face lighting up. "She's not _Rose's_ daughter, oh no! She's _Bad Wolf's_!" He raised an eyebrow. "I suppose you could almost call her… Bad Pup."

Behind the small girl, he saw a small stirring, blonde hair shifting just in his view. He quickly looked back to Kitten, trying to buy time for Alice to do whatever she had in mind. Who knew, maybe she could turn things to ash like Rose did to the Daleks… Now wouldn't _that _be convenient.

Kitten scoffed. "_Bad Pup_? Doctor, I'm appalled: are did you just come up with a _nickname_ for her? Disgusting." Alice pushed herself to her knees and glanced at him, her eyes widening. Things remembered that had been forgotten for a very, very long time flicked across her eyes, and she gave him a tiny little smile, mouthing _Bad Pup_. She winked and nodded. _Exactly._ "I thought you were interesting, Doctor! What happened to the 'no domestics' rule? No wonder Rose left- you were getting too old and boring!" The words poke at something in his chest, and he scowled, his brow low over his eyes. Kitten reveled in her small victory over him; Alice snuck to her feet and started limping her way up the many, many steps to the table. "You know, I might as well kill you now, so you can't take another of my pets away from me. I hate it when people interfere with my plans… and you, Doctor, have interfered with one too many for me to ignore you any longer." Alice reached the table and casted a quick glance across the top, searching for something only she knew. Her eyes find it and she stretched towards it, rising onto her tiptoes and pulling herself to her full length. He watched her with wide, worried eyes, all thoughts of distracting Kitten gone in his fear for Alice. The former spun around and screeched, her voice filled with horror. "_No! What have you done! Get away from there, Alissse!_" Alice reached out, her fingers grazing her prize. She cursed, grabbed for it again. "_NO! I TOLD YOU TO SSSTOP IT!_" Huge, leathery wings erupt from Kitten's small back; she flaps and rises into the air. Alice turned her head at the noise and whimpered, snatching the toy desperately off of the table. She pulled her body back and placed it on a different spot on the table, then dropped to the floor and rolled away from the screeching little girl as she landed beside her. She started running down the stairs, jumping over the last few steps and landing close to the Doctor, He pulled at his restraints, yelling her name.

She slid to his side and fell next to him, her fingers fumbling with the knots around his wrists. Kitten screamed and jumped into the air, dipping over their heads. They duck, and Alice finally frees the last knot. They dove away as Kitten slammed into the ground where they'd been a few moments before.

And then they hear a wonderful sound- the whooshing of a particular blue box.

_**R & R! Love you all!**_

_**~CTST**_


	12. Episode Two: Dolls of the Devil Part 5

_**The final installment of Episode Two! Who's excited? Me, me, me! I've been so hyper since I finished it because I couldn't upload it yet, and the jitters have driven me crazy! I've got crazy big news, but you'll have to wait until the end of this story to figure it out! ;) So, read on, my lovely readers!**_

"Alice, you brilliant, brilliant girl!" The Doctor grinned down at his blonde companion, pulling them both to their feet and racing across the blood-red ground towards the TARDIS. Kitten dove over their heads, short arms reaching for them and spitting out more curses in more languages than someone of her size should know. Alice shrugged and grabbed his hand, tugging him along behind her as she threw open the TARDIS door. They jumped in just as Kitten lunged towards them once more, the door slamming shut with such force that the two were thrown to their stomachs.

A mighty bang shifted the TARDIS, a tremble running through the floor and knocking Alice off-balance. "Doctor! I hate to break it to you, but it looks like she'd going to get in!" He started to speak, an exasperated expression on his face, but she held up a hand. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I _know_ what you say about it being impenetrable, but have you ever had an actual _devil _try to get in?!"

"Er, well, not exactly, but-" She glared at him. "All right, all right! I'm dealing with it!" He leapt towards the consol, grabbing onto a lever and using it to pull himself to his feet. He tugged his earlobe for a moment, then, muttering furiously to himself, began pressing buttons and spinning wheels with the fervor of a child playing with toys. If she hadn't been so terrified and so confused, Alice could have smiled.

The TARDIS started whooshing, and both companions whooped, hugging. As they slipped into nonbeing, the Doctor stretched across the consol and slammed his hand down on a tiny green button, his eyes twinkling. An enormous blast sent the TARDIS spinning, Alice clutching at the Doctor's sleeve with an exaggerated gasp. He laughed manically and raised an arm triumphantly- but before he could crow his success the TARDIS shook and he went tumbling to the ground. Alice screamed and fell onto his chest, giggling. Then she glanced down and screeched.

"Oh my God, Doctor! Why didn't you tell me?" She glared at him, a smile tugging at her lips. She struggled to contain her laughter.

"Tell you _what_?" He looked up at her from his uncomfortable position on the ground, one eyebrow raised.

"That I'm still wearing this _ridiculous_ dress!" She scrambled to her feet and darted down the hallway to her bedroom, holding down the hem of her too-short dress.

oOo

"So, what exactly did you do to Kitten?" Alice shook her glass, ice tinkling against the side. She was still hesitant to drink the bright blue drink inside, no matter what the Doctor said about it being completely delicious. She kind of wished she had some more of that yummy clear drink Kitten had served them, even _if_ she couldn't remember anything after drinking it…

"Let's just say, Kitten won't be bothering us _any_time soon. Trust me: She's literally in pieces." He winked, downing the blue drink in one gulp. Alice, who had finally rook one little sip, choked on it, sputtering.

"Sorry- _pieces_?!" She giggled. "You've got to be- no, never mind, you're most definitely_ not_ kidding." She rolled her eyes and placed her cup back down on the counter of the kitchen in the TARDIS, opting for something she knew much better- namely a simple cup of tea. She filled his TARDIS blue kettle and set it on the stove. "Doctor, you've been looking at me like a ghost for the past hour and a half. Surely you aren't _that_ surprised to find out I'm Rose's daughter… right?"

He sighed and turned his eyes to his drink, his shoulders slumped. "I suppose I should have known, but.."

"_But_ you were hoping I wasn't?" His head fell to his chest. "It's alright, I don't blame you. One second, you're carrying your unconscious companion through a chamber, the next you're looking at a story of her life." He glanced at her. "I might have been unconscious, but somehow, I could see what you saw. I dunno, maybe like how you could hear me while I was in pain.

"Anyway, what you saw? It's true. One day, Rose woke up with a kid in her arms. No one knew how she got there- but when tests were run… I was half Rose, and half TARDIS energy. The second Bad Wolf; enough TARDIS to not burn up and enough Rose to be human. Mum raised me, with a little help from my grandparents, and every night, she'd tell me a story. 'The Adventures of the Doctor and the TARDIS', she called them. I grew up hearing those stories- grew up with Time Lords and Daleks and Cybermen and all of your adventures. And when I turned ten-" Her voice broke, and she turned her head away so he can't see her crying. "The TARDIS inside of me couldn't survive for long in that world. I was dying. So when I turned ten, Mum sent me here. She had no other way to save me, so she sent me to you. But something went wrong, I ended up in the wrong time. And then…" She scrunched her eyebrows. "Something happened. My memories just… left. I suppose that was Kitten. I grew up, from then on, a lost kid. No where to stay, always moving from foster home to foster home. Occasionally, I spent time in the hospital for… hallucinations. Seeing things that didn't exist, drawing things that chased around a shadow, a man without a face, just a black smudge on the page fighting creatures with green skin or giant eyes. Everyone thought I was crazy. So… I stopped. I acted normal. And when I turned eighteen, I ran away, created a new life for myself. Alice Tyler, the shop girl." She laughed, bitterly. "And then you came. And look where I am now!" She smiled hesitantly. "Now I have my memories back and a brand new, amazing friend who _knows_ I'm not crazy." She blushed. "I guess I'm finally home."

_**I know, I know, weird ending. I originally had a TOTALLY different ending, but a friend of mine read it and said it left too many loose endings, so I had to change it- which is my absolute LEAST favorite thing to do! Gr! Still, I respect their opinions and they're one of my most trusted reviewers, so... I swallowed my pride and rewrote. (No matter how much it made me want to smash the laptop on the ground and pull my hair out.)**_

_**So, I did promise you a crazy big surprise at the beginning, and I'm not going to let you down! Instead of one surprise, you're getting MULTIPLE!**_

_**1. I started watching **__**Sherlock**__**! Already totally addicted and already crushing on Benedict, go figure! Guess David's not the only one I'm hopelessly in love with anymore... Also, **__**Torchwood**__**. And let me just say, whoever writes **__**Torchwood**__** needs to go to a mental hospital- because that show is seriously weird. Cool, but weird. And just a bit creepy. (Yes, I know that's not really a 'surprise' in every sense of the word, I'm just updating you on some big news, for me at least.)**_

_**2. NEW FANFICTIONS COMING SOON! I'm doing them a little different than this one, typing up a lot of the chapters before uploading, so that way I can a) upload even when I'm short on time and b) not take so damn long getting them up. I have the ideas all worked out, one started and another on the way! I'm planning on fanfics for **__**Eragon**__**, **__**Sherlock**__**, **__**Torchwood**__**, etc... AND I already have the sequel to **__**Another Tyler**__** all worked out (in my head, at least :S).**_

_**You wonderful readers are the ones who keep me determined to write! Love you all!**_

_**~CTST**_


End file.
